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CHICAGO — With Thanksgiving just a day away, Wednesday marked the busiest travel day of the long Thanksgiving holiday weekend, but what exactly did that traffic look like on the road and in the air?
According to AAA, the busiest time to drive Wednesday was from 2-6 p.m., and an estimated 49 million Americans across the country hopped on the road to get home for Thanksgiving dinner.
Before getting to that meal though, many travelers that went through Chicago got stuck in the heavier-than-usual traffic.
“It is the busiest day of the roads, that’s for certain,” said Molly Hart, spokeswoman for AAA.
Transportation data and insights company “Inrix” said Wednesday is likely the busiest on the roads during the Thanksgiving holiday travel period, where average travel times could be up to 80% higher than normal in some cities.
While travel on the roads to get to the turkey was up, one thing Illinois drivers benefitted from this year was having significantly cheaper gas prices to pay at the pump.
“Actually, today’s price is $3.45,” Hart said Wednesday. “So, it’s actually 52 cents less than it was a year ago.”
Elsewhere at O’Hare International Airport, some travelers said getting into the airport was a breeze.
“It was lovely,” said Donna McCall, who was travelling into Chicago from Baltimore. “I had no problem coming from BWI on Southwest to come here. It was safe, it was comfortable.”
“For it to be one of the busiest travel days, it was one of the smoothest travel experiences I’ve had,” said Andre Harrell II, who is visiting Chicago from Florida. “No delays, my bags were on time. My flight actually landed earlier than expected.”
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