Nearly 500k in Philly region to travel for Thanksgiving

Nearly 500,000 Philadelphia-area residents are expected to hit the roads, rails and skies for the Thanksgiving holiday this week, a slight dip from the number who traveled last year.

AAA Mid-Atlantic estimates that just above 490,000 people in the region will travel at least 50 miles between Wednesday and Sunday. That's a 2.4-percent decrease from last year, the organization says.

Nationwide, 43.4 million people are expected to travel, a 1.5-percent drop from 2012.

"While the primary focus of Thanksgiving is to gather with loved ones and celebrate with each other, fiscal uncertainty in the minds of some consumers is causing a slight decline in the number of projected travelrs this year," AAA spokeswoman Jenny Robinson said in a statement. But, she said, the number of estimated travelers is well above 2008 and 2009, when the recession caused a huge decline in holiday travel.

The vast majority of Philadelphia-area travelers -- about 89 percent, or 437,000 people -- are expected to drive to their destinations, AAA says. The travel group says 8 percent, or about 40,500 people, will travel by air.

Thirty-seven percent are expected to make their trips Wednesday, the busiest day of the Thanksgiving travel period.

Those traveling then could run into severe weather: A nor'easter is expected to hit the mid-Atlantic and Northeast from Tuesday night into Wednesday, and the rain, sleet and snow could cause major disruptions for travelers.