This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
It should be the busiest holiday travel season ever for Utahns and other residents of AAA's Mountain West region.
AAA Utah spokeswoman Rolayne Fairclough said Thursday that more than 7.4 million residents of the region — which also includes Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona and Nevada — are expected to travel during the coming Christmas and New Year holiday periods.
That represents a 3.2 percent hike over 2013's previous record of just over 7.2 million, a trend Fairclough attributed to "consumer optimism, an increase of disposable income and lower gas prices [that] are enabling many families to plan a holiday getaway."
Fairclough added: "This year the holidays land on a Thursday, creating a holiday travel season that is one day longer than a year ago and the longest since 2008. This makes travel scheduling for the period between Christmas and New Year's more flexible."
AAA predicts 6.6 million Mountain West residents traveling during Christmas and New Year's will drive, a 3.4 percent hike from 2013. More than 530,000 are expected to board aircraft, up 0.5 percent, while another 254,000 residents will travel by other modes of transportation, such as boats or trains — an increase of 4.1 percent .
Nationally, AAA projects more than 98 million people will travel 50 miles or more during the holiday festivities. That's a 4 percent increase compared to last year.
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