By NICK GOSNELL
Hutch Post
Shawn Steward with AAA Kansas notes that the period that includes Independence Day will be quite busy for travelers this year.
"We're projecting nearly 71 million people are going to travel sometime during that period. 685,000 or so Kansans will travel," Steward said. "About 85% will be driving. 60.6 million people nationwide and about 585,000 Kansans will be driving to their destinations during the holiday."
There are also more people flying these days.
"TSA has been seeing record numbers," Steward said. "In fact, this past Sunday was the most that TSA has ever screened before. 2.99 million went through airports and they're expecting more than 3 million. So another record this Friday, the 28th. So air travel is extremely popular and extremely busy right now."
The busy times with traffic are the ones you would expect.
"When people getting off work mixes with holiday travel, those are usually the main times to avoid," Steward said. "Those are going to be the busiest times, especially if your travel takes you through metro areas. So we're talking about Wednesday afternoon and evening of July 3rd, and then a lot of people will be returning on Sunday, July 7th. Those are two times that could be especially busy, especially in larger metro areas."
Travel numbers are back to pre-pandemic levels, if not a little more across the country.