The Mother Lode Stays Home For Thanksgiving

An informal poll MyMotherLode.com asked “How Do You Plan To Travel For The Thanksgiving Holiday?” A full 65 percent voted they won’t be traveling at all and will stay at home. Another 29 percent voted they will travel by car, the remaining  percent are either not celebrating, or traveling by plane, public transit and carpool or taxi and charter bus.

The results reflect previous polls about holiday travel including one in late July asking how far people would travel during the 2016 summer with 47 percent saying under 100 miles or less. Before that 90 percent voted they were not traveling more than 50 miles for the 2016 Fourth of July holiday and 88 percent said they weren’t leaving their county for Memorial Day Weekend.

Despite the high percentage voting they are staying home AAA Northern California spokesperson Cynthia Harris said “Californians are eager to travel and turn this four-day weekend into the most traveled holiday in the past nine years.”

The AAA report stated most will travel by car, more than 5 million, a 3.4 percent increase from 2015. Travel by plane increased by 1.6 percent, an increase from last year to 626,000 passengers, according to AAA. Over 192,000 travelers will use other types of transportation including boats or trains, representing a 1.1 percent increase from the previous year. AAA’s tips for motorists are in the news story “Packed Roadways For Holiday Weekend” here.