(The following story by Eddie Jimenez appeared on The Fresno Bee website on November 24.)
FRESNO, Calif. — Valley residents driving to visit family and friends for the Thanksgiving holiday have something to be thankful for, even before they reach their destinations — the recent dramatic drop in gasoline prices.
But even with lower fuel costs, fewer Californians are expected to travel this year. Fewer are expected to drive or fly this Thanksgiving compared with last year. Train ridership, however, is forecast to be up.
Samuel Pierce and his wife, Kelly, are driving to spend time with his mother in San Diego over the holiday. Pierce said that if gas prices — which peaked well above $4 a gallon a few months ago — hadn’t dropped, he would have had to shell out $200 for gasoline to drive to San Diego and back to his home in Visalia.
With gas now priced at $2 a gallon and lower, “it makes it easier, that’s for sure,” he said.
The Pierces will be among the 5.1 million Californians traveling more than 50 miles from home by car, plane or train this Thanksgiving holiday weekend, the American Automotive Association said. That is down 2.3% from last Thanksgiving.
California’s expected decline in holiday travelers is more than the 1.4% drop forecast nationally.
Across the country, approximately 41 million people will travel 50 miles or more from home this Thanksgiving holiday weekend, AAA said. The expected decline is the first since 2002.
It’s also the fourth consecutive holiday this year with year-to-year declines, AAA said.
Airports also expect fewer travelers. The Air Transport Association of America is predicting a 10% drop in airline travelers from last Thanksgiving.
Annette Hopkins of Visalia said she and her husband planned to stay home for Thanksgiving.
But Hopkins said she suspects some folks who don’t travel as much as she and her husband — they own a trucking company and are on the road a lot — will stay close to home this holiday because of the nation’s faltering economy.
“We’re still not ready to believe that the economy will get better,” she said.
Scott and Debra Lockwood of Tulare are traveling to Houston for a family gathering. The couple, their 13-year-old son, Kory, and another family member will drive to Los Angeles to catch a flight to Texas.
The drop in gas prices has altered their travel plans slightly: They will take their Nissan truck to Los Angeles, instead of their Saturn, so they can have more leg room and luggage space.
“We’ll have a little more room,” Scott Lockwood said.
Despite an expected decline in travelers, airports will be busy.
Planes will still be about 90% full on Wednesday, Sunday and Monday, the three busiest days surrounding the Thanksgiving holiday, the Air Transport Association of America said.
Airlines have cut back their schedules in response to the softer economy, said Vikky Calderon, a spokeswoman for Fresno Yosemite International airport.
Meanwhile, airfares are falling rather than rising as the holiday travel season approaches. Carriers are struggling to fill seats as consumers spooked by market and economic turmoil trim their spending. Analysts say the steep falloff in travel over the past six weeks caught carriers, hotels and car-rental companies off guard.
Airlines are responding with deep discounts. Southwest Airlines last week extended a three-day sale through Dec. 8, with some tickets priced for a mere $90 round trip. United and American Airlines also unveiled sales for travel in December and into the new year.
Air travel through Fresno’s airport is expected to follow national trends, Calderon said.
Meanwhile, Amtrak has become a more popular way to travel for the holidays.
“We anticipate this will be yet another record ridership Thanksgiving weekend for California trains,” spokeswoman Vernae Graham said.
To accommodate additional passengers, Amtrak officials are gearing up for their busiest travel period by adding six cars daily Wednesday through Sunday to their San Joaquins service, Bakersfield to Oakland and Sacramento.
The six additional cars can carry about 2,500 passengers daily, Graham said.
More cars also will be added to Amtrak’s Pacific Surfliner and Capitol Corridor trains.
Amtrak ridership initially climbed because of high gas prices, but even now the system’s popularity continues to grow, Graham said.
“People find it’s reasonably priced and it’s a hassle-free way of traveling,” she said.
Nationally, Amtrak has posted six consecutive years of growth in ridership and revenue, officials said.
On the roadways, California Highway Patrol officials remind motorists that their maximum-enforcement period starts at 6 p.m. Wednesday and goes through midnight Sunday.
All available officers will be on the road, looking for speeders, drunken drivers and seat-belt violators, said Paul Solorzano, a CHP spokesman.
Richard and Lynne Kuckenbecker of Madera said falling gas prices will make their drive to Sonoma County to be with their family for Thanksgiving less expensive.
But would higher gas prices have stopped them from making the trip?
“Not to see my grandchildren,” Lynne Kuckenbecker said.