More than 100 million holiday travelers to hit the roads

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — More than 100 million Americans are expected to take to the roads for the Christmas and New Year’s holidays making it the most popular method of transportation for holiday travel by a long shot.

>>> STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE <<<

AAA anticipates nearly 104 million Americans will travel by car to their Christmas and New Year’s destinations this season, which is only a small increase compared to last year.

[DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks]

Holiday commuters Action News Jax spoke with at a rest stop near the Florida-Georgia line said price was a big factor in their decision.

For Mike Space and his family, that meant driving from North Carolina down to Jacksonville to catch a cheaper flight for their Christmas vacation in Italy.

“For whatever reason the airlines have different prices out of different locations,” said Space.

Read: Christmas 2023: Which grocery stores are open on Christmas Day?

Don’t expect to save much on gas though, the national average price sits at about $3.12 a gallon, roughly the same as the $3.10 average exactly one year ago.

Still, for travelers Phyllis and Sammantha Young, who drove to Jacksonville to pick up their relatives who are too young to fly on their own and bring them back home to North Carolina for Christmas, the drive was still cheaper than a flight.

However, traffic posed some problems.

Read: ‘Forget it:’ Hours-long backup on I-95 in St. Johns County causes major holiday headache

“It was fine until we hit South Carolina and then it was stop and go kind of. Accidents. I think everybody was trying to go at the same time,” said Sammantha.

South Carolina traffic was a common theme among travelers we heard from.

“Because stupid 95 has only four lanes and everywhere else it’s six lanes,” said Greg Lytle.

Read: Three-legged Labrador is looking for a home for Christmas

Lytle hit the holiday traffic on his way down from Pittsburgh to his winter home in Florida.

But he said he wouldn’t let the delays get to him, as he was still riding high after a successful surgery to address a recent diagnosis of prostate cancer.

“I’m alive! Hey, I lived through it!” said Lytle.

[SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter]

AAA estimates 13 times more Americans will be hitting the roads over the next two weeks compared to the number two means of transportation, flying.

Click here to download the free Action News Jax news and weather apps, click here to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Action News Jax live.