AAA: Fourth of July holiday travel expected to break records in Philly area, nationally

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- AAA says plan on lots of company if you're heading out of town for the Fourth of July holiday.

AAA released its holiday forecast early Monday morning.

Holiday travel is expected to break records with nearly 51 million people nationwide estimated to head out of town to celebrate.

Here at home, travel is expected to be up nearly 4% and set a record.

"AAA projects that more than 671,000 Philadelphia-area residents will travel a distance of 50 miles or more over the Independence Day Weekend, up 4% over last year and setting a new record for the holiday," the company said.

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AAA says nearly 83% of travelers - or more than 545,000 Philadelphia-area residents - will be hitting the road for the holiday, up nearly 2% over last year.

While most people will be driving, air travel is rising nearly 13% over last year, with more than 67,000 Philadelphia-area residents projected to take to the skies.

But the biggest increase will be among alternate transportation methods: trains, buses and cruises are expected to rise a whopping 20% for Philadelphia-area travelers.

"Travel by other modes of transportation, which was slowest to recover from the pandemic, is up more than 20% over last year, with more than 50,000 Philadelphia-area residents (7.5% of local travelers) training, busing or cruising to their holiday destinations," AAA said.