Did Thanksgiving Traffic Feel Stuffed? Here’s Why.

Not all of us travel over the river and through the woods to celebrate Thanksgiving. Some of us do, but not all of us.

Most of us travel by car-full-of-kids on the beloved full-of-families highways. If you were one of those travelers this holiday, you might have felt a little more packed-in than usual.

AAA NewsRoom released this year's travel forecast that had some good news/bad news for those of us that were making our way in and out of town. AAA President and CEO Marshall Doney said, "One million more Americans than last year will carve out time to visit with friends and family this Thanksgiving," hopefully realizing he had made a great holiday pun.

There was a 1.9% increase in the number of travelers on the road this year compared to 2015. The total projected travelers were around 48.7 million, the most since 2007. AAA measures the Thanksgiving travel period between Wednesday, November 23rd to Sunday, November 27th to get a full picture of those coming and going.

This increase is good news because it directly correlates with a better economy. The second half of 2016 has been good enough to bump up the travel numbers. I'm sure that's what you were thinking when you were sitting in traffic.

How can they really predict the number of people that will be traveling? Well, if you are an analysis and graph lover like me, you can check out the process here. Otherwise, you can assume AAA has employed wizards that can see into the future.

These wizards (and actual, super interesting math) have been amazingly accurate since they've started. In joint research with IHS Markit, this forecast uses stuff like stocks, employment, and hotel prices to whip up an educated traffic guess. We'll have to wait for the data on actual travelers to be collected before we can see if these wizards were correct. It sure felt packed, though.

With more cars on the road, there is an increased likelihood of collisions and citations. Be a part of the solution and not a part of the problem. Keep that road rage in check and follow the rules of the road. We all want to get to our destination and home safe and stress-free.