Holiday Sees Record Number of Travel on U.S. Roads, Airports

Holiday travelers aren’t celebrating the 4th of July holiday alone: a record 70 million people are expected to travel on the roads, rails, and airlines, with the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) anticipating screening a total of more than 32 million individuals during the June 27 to July 8 period.

Even before Independence Day travel got underway, TSA set a new record for the number of travelers passing through its security checkpoints — 2.99 million on Sunday, June 23. While numbers aren’t in yet, the agency expects to break that record again during the holiday season.

Busiest Summer Travel Ever

“We expect this summer to be our busiest ever and summer travel usually peaks over the Independence Day holiday,” said TSA Administrator David Pekoske.

AAA projects that 70.9 million Americans will travel 50 miles or more from home over the Independence Day holiday period, a 5 percent increase from 2023 and an 8 percent increase from 2019.

For the first time, AAA’s annual holiday travel report included the entire July 4th week, plus the Saturday before and the Sunday after the holiday.

“With summer vacations in full swing and the flexibility of remote work, more Americans are taking extended trips around Independence Day,” said Paula Twidale, senior vice president of AAA Travel. “We anticipate this July 4th week will be the busiest ever, with an additional 5.7 million people traveling compared to 2019.”

According to AAA, lower gas prices, slightly better airfares, and a healthy economy are helping to fuel 2024 summer travel. AAA predicted that both car and air travel would hit record levels this week.

To avoid or at least minimize sitting in traffic on the way home from holiday visits, AAA advised avoiding getting on the road on Sunday, July 7, if possible, and departing before 11 a.m. if driving on Sunday is unavoidable. The worst traffic is expected that day between 2 p.m. and 8 p.m.