FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. (WSVN) - The days surrounding Thanksgiving have been known to be one of the busiest travel periods of the year. Experts with the Florida Department of Transportation predict this year will be the third busiest season since 2021.
Inside the FDOT Broward County headquarters, employees are set to monitor the traffic on the roads as drivers travel out of town, or into town, to visit family and friends.
Experts said travel numbers went back to normal in 2021, but this year is predicted to be much different.
“Oh, my God. There is so many people traveling,” said traveler Elisa Ricaurte. “I’m telling you … more than half of the airport was up by the TSA line.”
Miami International Airport is expected to have 1.8 million passengers starting Friday and lasting until Nov. 29; making that a 4% increase since the record-setting period of 2021, which means 150,000 passengers are projected to pass through the airport each day, during the 12-day Thanksgiving travel rush.
According to AAA, 49 million people are expected to travel by car this year, and nationwide, 4.5 million people are expected to fly.
“Nearly 2.9 million Floridians will travel,” said Wayne Kinser with AAA. “We’re estimating that’s about 50,000 more than last year, 22,000 more than in 2019, so we’re back to above pandemic levels. There seems to be some pent-up demand for traveling, and it seems to be a priority for all Americans at this point, so that seems to be what we’re seeing as the trend, whether that be international travel or domestic.”
This year is turning out to be the third busiest Thanksgiving weekend in 22 years as AAA is already seeing delays.
“A lot of trends we got, we noticed they got an early snowstorm earlier this week, and that’s always great for the holidays,” said Kinser. “It’s romantic and nice to sit around the fire if you live up north, but it causes a lot of problems, and we’re expecting a lot more delays.”
“Coming in here, stressin’ just cause I’m trying to find the shortest security line. It’s difficult, but I am. It’s good to see that it’s back to normal,” said a traveler. “After all that has been going on recently with COVID, it’s kind of nice to see that everyone is back in the airport, going home to see their families and stuff like that.”
Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport is also expected to see an increase of travelers, estimated at 690,000 from Tuesday to Nov. 28.
Officials at both airports expect to have the parking decks filled to capacity, and the roads are expected to be even busier.
“I was surprised I got to my plane, actually,” said Ricaurte.
“It took me 45 minutes to get here, when what usually is a 15-minute drive,” said the traveler. “It’s been wild.”
Flyers may want to look at TSA precheck or give themselves extra time at the airport and check their flight status frequently to make sure their flight has not been canceled.
Meanwhile, roads are expected to be even busier.
“I’m expecting it to ramp up a little bit,” said Barry Kislivich, an employee with FDOT.
Road rangers are equipped with new technology that can easily clear streets and respond to accidents.
Employees at headquarters are hard at work, as they test their equipment and scale up staffing.
“I monitor these, so I see anything — any action going on,” said Odane Gordon, a road ranger.
The staff is able to dispatch road patrol to crashes, control traffic signals to make traffic flow better and record traffic information.
“Once you’re on the roadway, be alert and slow down because we are seeing a lot of high speeds,” said a road ranger. “You know, just be careful out there, be very attentive to your surroundings.”
“We post all that information on Florida 511, so people can check the website before they start their travels and make their plans,” said FDOT spokesperson Alexandra Lopez.
The web page can be useful if you want to know which roads are the busiest.
FDOT workers said Interstate 95 is the busiest highway in the area and the most traffic will happen Wednesday, right before Thanksgiving, so drivers may want to head out before 11 a.m. on Tuesday.
As far as gas prices, the national average is $3.71 and the state’s prices average at $3.50. Meanwhile, Miami-Dade and Broward County fuel costs average at $3.52; officials said that gas prices are trending downward.
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