SALT LAKE CITY — Starting Thursday, the Memorial Day travel season is upon us, and more than 37 million Americans are expected to hit the road this year.

“There is this growing optimism to get out there and travel and people are getting out there, (but) we’re still not to pre-COVID levels,” said Aldo Vasquez with AAA.

Vasquez said this year’s crowds are actually a 60% increase over last year’s pandemic summer, but down from the approximately 42 million who traveled the year before.

AAA Sees A Huge Jump In Travel Over Memorial Day Weekend

Considering the spike in gas prices, what are the chances the actual number of travelers might not reach that estimate?

“What’s going on with gasoline and an increase in gas prices, it’s still not going to deter people from getting out there and taking these trips,” Vasquez said.

Aldo told me 93% of all travel for Memorial Day weekend are road trips, so Interstate 15 is going to be challenging across the state this long holiday weekend.

And remember, Memorial Day to Labor Day represents the 100 deadliest days for Utah’s teens out on the roads.