SOUTHLAND – (INT) – The first major holiday of the summer travel season looms and it will find more Southern Californians on the move.

The Automobile Club of Southern California predicts 3-million will make get-aways during the Memorial Day weekend. That could be the most since the all-time record of 3.2 million in the Southland which was set in 2005.

Two-and-a-half-million 2.52 million are expected to travel by car, a 2.9 percent increase from last year. Another 300,000 Southern Californians are expected to go by plane, for a 6.2 percent increase.

“One significant trend we are seeing this year is solid growth in the number of air travelers, which also tends to signify longer vacations that are a greater distance away from home,” said Filomena Andre, the Auto Club’s vice president for travel.

SoCal gas prices are expected to hold steady near $3 a gallon on average – the second cheapest price averages for this time of year since 2009.

Metrolink says it will offer more service than in previous years so drivers can leave their cars at home and take a train ride. Metrolink will offer train schedules regularly available on Sundays.

According to Waze, the real-time crowd-sourced traffic and navigation app, Chicago, Los Angeles and New York are the busiest metro areas for Memorial Day weekend.
The top five Memorial Day destinations for Southern California travelers, according to a survey of AAA Travel agents, are:

1) Las Vegas
2) San Diego
3) Grand Canyon
4) San Francisco
5) Yosemite

Story Date: May 29, 2017