WASHINGTON 鈥� Hundreds of thousands of travelers from the D.C. metro area are taking a trip for the holiday weekend to observe Memorial Day and enjoy the start of the summer travel season.
About 966,000 area residents will travel at least 50 miles, AAA Mid-Atlantic projects. That figure is a 1.6 percent increase over last year, and the highest number recorded in 11 years.
Nearly all of the travelers 鈥� 90 percent 鈥� will be going by car.
鈥淭he great American road trip is back, due to cheaper gas prices,鈥� said聽AAA spokesman John Townsend.
鈥淲e鈥檙e seeing this play out for Memorial Day, with a projected 869,600 people in the Washington metro area planning to drive to their Memorial Day destinations.鈥�
As for everyone else, 69,100 people are flying and 27,300 are using other modes of travel.
