CLEVELAND — This Memorial Day weekend kicks off the unofficial start of the summer and tens of millions will be hitting the roads and taking to the skies for travel.
AAA projects 43.8 million travelers will head 50 miles or more from their homes over the Memorial Day holiday travel period from Thursday, May 23 to Monday, May 27, 2024. This year’s total number of travelers is a 4 percent increase over last year and comes close to matching 2005’s record of 44 million Memorial Day travelers.
"We are expecting to see record-breaking numbers," shared Tiffany Stanley of AAA East Central.
She and her team are predicting a record 38.4 million people taking road trips this Memorial Day weekend. In Ohio, they're expecting about 1.5 million people to be hitting the roads.
"Since the end of the pandemic, we have seen numbers continue to tick up year after year," she explained. "I think it's very interesting to see that every year since the pandemic, people are prioritizing travel."
The Ohio State Highway Patrol is asking drivers to watch their speed, wear a seatbelt and not to drive impaired or distracted by a cell phone.
"So last year over Memorial Day weekend in 2023, there were 24 fatal crashes on Ohio's roadways that claimed the lives of 26 motorists," said Sgt. Bridget Matt. "That number, it's tragic. It's way too high."
Of those 26 fatalities, 19 were a result of impaired driving and 11 were unbelted.
"That's why we want to encourage everyone to remember to drive sober and make sure to wear your safety belt,” Matt continued.
During last year’s Memorial Day weekend, the Patrol made 399 impaired driving arrests.
Cleveland Hopkins International Airport is gearing up for a massive travel season as well, expecting 3.3 million travelers from Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day weekend, up 200,000 over last year during the same time.
Spokeswoman Michele Dynia is advising you to arrive at the airport at least two hours early for domestic flights and three hours early for international flights.
She also recommended using the airport's website to check the status of your flight, parking and checkpoint wait time ahead of your arrival.
To lessen the stresses of traveling, TSA is making adjustments to their checkpoints starting this week.
"To accommodate some of those very early morning flights – There's some 5 a.m. flights – TSA has announced that they will actually open their checkpoints earlier for us, with some of them opening as early as 3:00 AM, to ensure that instead of having people waiting in line and that line growing while waiting for that checkpoint to open, it'll be open and people can start getting through earlier to get rid of that immediate morning backup," Dynia shared. "This way, people can just start getting through and get on their way to their flight in a timely matter.”
Dynia said the special TSA opening times will go through Labor Day weekend. North and Central Checkpoints open at 3:30 a.m. and South Checkpoint at 3 a.m.