More Travelers Expected This Thanksgiving Weekend

The roads and skies will be a little more crowded this Thanksgiving weekend.

The California State Automobile Association is predicting 5.3 million Californians will travel 50 miles or more this upcoming four-day holiday weekend.

That's an increase of 4.1 percent over last year.

“Many Californians have foregone holiday family gatherings over the past three years,” said AAA Northern California spokesperson Cynthia Harris. “This year the overwhelming desire to travel has taken hold and the desire to create lasting family memories is proving to be more important than staying home for the Thanksgiving weekend.”

Of those travelers, 4.5 million are expected to travel by motor vehicle. These motorists are expected to travel an average of 647 miles during the weekend. 

They'll see gasoline prices that have fallen recently in California. The average now for a gallon of unleaded regular is $3.77, according to the CSAA. That's six cents less than the $3.83 average a week ago and almost nine cents lower than the $3.86 last month.

Another 620,000 Californians are expected to fly. That's despite a 20 percent jump in air fares compared to a year ago.

CSAA predicts 145,000 Californians will travel by train, boat or other modes of transportation.

BART will operate longer trains to help passengers get to and from San Francisco and Oakland international airports on the day before Thanksgiving, which is traditionally the busiest travel day of the year.

The transit system will also run longer trains on Sunday, Nov. 27, the day when most of those airport travelers return home, and on Black Friday when people may want to use the system to go shopping.

Are you traveling this Thanksgiving weekend or staying close to home? Vote in our poll and then tell us about your plans in the comments section.