Thanksgiving! That classic symbol of Americana, inspiring Rockwellian cheer and excuses for unbridled gluttony. But this warm-and-fuzzy holiday is also a unique test for the country’s infrastructure. Think about it: When else does such a large percentage of a nation’s population travel at the same time?
Granted, Thanksgiving travel isn’t what it used to be: Consistently, fewer people are going anywhere. Yes, AAA predicts Thanksgiving travel will increase slightly this year over last year (with the vast majority of those people hitting the highways). But that increase is like recent stats about global temperatures dropping this year: When the past decade has been a solid downward trend, one year’s increase doesn’t tell you much.
So in general, fewer Americans are going anywhere on Thanksgiving, preferring to celebrate the holiday locally. A major loser in this trend is the airlines: In 2000, 6.2 million Americans flew over the holiday weekend, while this year, just 2.3 million are expected to fly. That’s a whopping 66% decrease (one that the airlines are feeling on the money end).
Then there’s the highways: While the population has climbed steadily in the past decade, almost 50 million Americans drove over the river and through the woods in 2000, while this year it’s down to an estimated 33 million. (For a detailed look into just how safe that driving will be, check out NPR’s series this week on highway safety.) And for the rest of us, around 2.9 million will travel by train, watercraft, bus or a combination of transportation modes (bus-to-canoe-to-camel, perhaps?).
