While most of the population believes that they know holiday travel (lines of antlered mini-vans travelling significantly slower than Santa’s reindeer), they do not truly know the statistics behind the chaos. Here are some Christmas travel facts sure to turn any traffic-induced rant into an informational lecture.
1. 91% of travelers choose personal transportation
More than any other time of the year, during the holiday season, travelers choose to travel by their own personal car. At 91%, the second most popular form of transportation is air travel, which accounts for only 5% of holiday travel.
2. People travel further for Christmas
Christmas travel ranks up more miles, on average, than travel during any other time of the year. While the average travel distance for any other day of the year tends to be 261 miles, Christmas tends to bring travelers 15 miles further from home at roughly 275 miles per traveler.
3. Nearly all holiday travel is domestic
Even with travelers pushing further from home during the holiday season, it is estimated that 99% of holiday travel remains domestic during Christmas.
4. Travelers are younger during Christmas
With everyone travelling home for the holidays, it should come as no surprise that holiday travelers tend to be younger than any other time of year. For the Christmas season, the average traveler is 36 years old, two years younger than the yearly average 38 year-old travelers.
5. Over half of travelers return home same-day
At 51%, over half of holiday travelers return home that same night. However, of those that stay, the average length of their trip will be four nights.
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All statistics were collected via the Bureau of Transportation Statistics’ U.S. Holiday Travel summary.