Approximately 959,000 New Jersey residents will travel 50 miles or more for the Memorial Day holiday weekend in 2015, an increase of 4.6% compared to the 917,190 who traveled in 2014. The Memorial Day holiday travel period is defined as Thursday, May 21 to Monday, May 25.

“The majority of New Jerseyans, 865,000, plan to travel by automobile, up 5.1% from the 823,000 who drove to their holiday destination last year,” according to Tracy Noble, spokesperson for AAA Mid-Atlantic. “AAA is projecting that 90% of holiday travelers will take to New Jersey’s roadways during the Memorial Day holiday weekend, so motorists need to pack their patience along with the sunscreen as they set out for the Jersey Shore.”

“AAA is expecting more Memorial Day travelers this year than any time in the past 10 years as confident consumers come out of hibernation ready to explore national parks, beach destinations and America’s great cities,” Noble continued. “Following a harsh winter, many New Jerseyans are trading in their snow boots for flip flops and making plans to start the season with a vacation getaway.”

A number of economic factors are contributing to the large increase in holiday travelers this year. “A strong employment market and low gas prices have driven consumer optimism to new highs and boosted Americans’ disposable income. This is welcome news for the travel industry,” added Noble.

Impact of gasoline prices on travel plans

Travelers continue to benefit from substantially lower gas prices compared to recent years. Today’s New Jersey average gas price is $2.53 per gallon, which is almost $1.00 less per gallon than last year. AAA predicts most U.S. travelers will pay the cheapest Memorial Day gas prices in at least five years.

Nationally, AAA projects the number of Americans traveling for the Memorial Day 2015 holiday to increase 4.7% compared to 2014. Approximately 37.2 million Americans will journey 50 miles or more from home. Last year, 35.5 million Americans traveled during the same period. The 2015 Memorial Day forecast is expected to mark the highest travel volume for the holiday in 10 years and the 4.7% increase over Memorial Day 2014 is the highest forecast growth rate for any of the holidays tracked by AAA since Independence Day 2012.

Travel Breakdown:

Automobile
•New Jersey—864,910 (90% of all travelers), up 5.1% compared to the 823,055 who drove in 2014.
•Nationally—33 million (89% of all travelers), a 5.3% increase from the 31.3 million who drove last year.

Air
•New Jersey—62,455 (6.5% of all travelers), up 2.2% from 61,133last year.
•Nationally—2.6 million (7% of all travelers), an increase of 2.4% from Memorial Day Weekend 2014.

Train, Bus, Watercraft or Multi-Modal Travel
•New Jersey—31,741 (3.3% of all travelers), down 3.8% from 2014.
•Nationally—About 1.6 million (4.2% of all travelers), down of 3.6% from the 2014 holiday weekend.

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