WMBFNews.com | Myrtle Beach/Florence, SC | News, Weather, SportsHoliday travel expected to decrease in Carolinas

Holiday travel expected to decrease in Carolinas

By Brandon Herring - bio | email

FLORENCE, SC (WMBF) - Experts with AAA Carolinas say holiday travel in North and South Carolina will decline this year compared to last year.

In South Carolina, AAA expects more than 1.2 million South Carolinians to get out on the state's highways during the 12-day holiday season that begins Dec. 23. That's about 4 percent fewer that last year.

In North Carolina, AAA expects about 2.7 million North Carolinians to travel away from home by car during the holiday period. That's a 5 percent drop in travel from last year.

AAA Carolinas cites the rise in the price of gas and higher unemployment rates as possible reasons fewer people are traveling this season. In South Carolina, the average price of regular unleaded gasoline is 87 cents higher than this time last year. In North Carolina, the average price is 92 cents higher than last year.

AAA also expects travel in other South Atlantic states to be less this year. However, the organization expects travel nationwide to increase by 3.8 percent over 2008.

Travelers who stopped at a gas station along Highway 52 in West Florence Wednesday said they thought traffic was on par with previous years. They noticed a lot of cars on the road, but they didn't run into significant delays.

Samantha Bryant was headed to Hartsville from New York City. She said she and her family started traveling at 3 a.m. so they could avoid heavy traffic in the Northeast.

"It was a lot of traffic. It was a lot of cars out, maybe not so much traffic, but there were a lot of cars out," Bryant explained. "So it wasn't like delays or anything like that, except for the construction in North Carolina, but otherwise it was fairly OK."

Copyright 2009 WMBF News. All rights reserved.