About 2.5 million Southland residents are expected to travel over the upcoming Labor Day weekend, a 1 percent increase from last year, the Automobile Club of Southern California estimated Monday.
About 2 million of the travelers, or 86 percent, are expected to drive to their holiday getaways, while about 347,000 people are expected to fly and 150,000 will take a bus, train, cruise or other means of travel, according to the Auto Club.
“With Labor Day occurring on its latest possible date of Sept. 7, we were unlikely to see a huge increase in travel compared to last year because most schools will have been in session for at least a week,” said Filomena Andre, the Auto Club’s vice president for travel products and services. “But dropping gas prices will give those who do travel some more flexibility in their getaway budgets.”
Statewide, about 4 million people are expected to travel this weekend, up from 3.99 million last year. About 3.2 million of those people are expected to drive and 560,000 are expected to fly, according to the Auto Club. Nationally, 35.5 million Americans are expected to take Labor Day trips.
According to a survey of Southland travelers, the top destinations for locals will be San Diego, Las Vegas, San Francisco, the Central Coast and the Grand Canyon.
—City News Service