Motor vehicle travel expected to be down this Thanksgiving

By Steve Huffman

shuffman@salisburypost.com

Salisbury's Larry Johnson was filling his Toyota Camry at The Pop Shoppe on West Innes Street Tuesday afternoon.

He left with a full tank of gas, but he won't be burning a lot of it over the Thanksgiving holidays.

Johnson said his in-laws live outside Atlanta, and in years past, he, his wife and their two children have driven to Georgia on Thanksgiving morning, then returned to Rowan County on Friday afternoon.

Not this year. Instead, the Johnsons will be enjoying turkey at their home.

"We just don't have the extra money we've had in years past," Johnson said. "We're trying to save it for Christmas."

The Johnsons aren't the only ones doing so this year. According to AAA Carolinas, motor vehicle travel this Thanksgiving is expected to be down about 2.5 percent from a year ago.

It marks the first decline in Thanksgiving travel since 2002.

This downturn comes although the price of regular gas has dropped to about $1.86 a gallon, a marked decline from the $3.07 it was selling for a year ago.

But job layoffs and fears about the economy are making people wary about what 2009 holds.

"Consumers are being very cautious about their discretionary spending," said Carol Gifford, a spokeswoman for AAA Carolinas. "Concern about the economy is depressing travel just as it's depressing any type of spending."

She said that despite recent economic downturns and a cutback in travel, about 1.2 million North Carolinians will still travel 50 miles or more over Thanksgiving.That's 25,000 fewer than a year ago, but the state's highways and thoroughfares will still be hopping.

"There's still going to be a lot of people on the road," Gifford said.

At Charlotte Douglas International Airport, travel will peak today, then decline sharply Thursday. Things will be moving briskly again come Sunday, said Haley Gentry, a spokeswoman for the airport.

She said Thanksgiving travel is expected to be down about 1 percent from last year, but said that for the year, the airport has seen an increase of about 5 percent in business.

"People need to practice patience," said Gentry, referring to the hordes of travelers expected to grace the terminals of Charlotte Douglas today and Sunday.

Gentry cautioned that those traveling by air over the holidays — Christmas, especially — need to remember that it's best not to wrap presents until they reach their destinations.

She said if there's anything suspicious about a wrapped present, security personnel are likely to make its carrier show what's underneath that fancy paper.

"They may very well insist you unwrap it," Gentry said.

The decline in motor vehicle traffic this Thanksgiving is indicative of a year-long decline. According to AAA Carolinas, fewer people also drove on Memorial Day, the Fourth of July and Labor Day this year.