Memorial Day travel to increase

AURORA - AAA projected the number of Americans traveling on vacation this Memorial Day holiday weekend will increase 5.4 percent from 2009 with approximately 32.1 million travelers taking a trip away from home.

Last year, 30.5 million Americans traveled during the same period.

Nearly 28 million people, or 87 percent of all travelers are expected to travel by motor vehicle, which is up 5.8 percent from 2009, even though gas prices are averaging 85 cents higher than 2009 across the U.S.

In Illinois, 1.74 million people will be traveling for the holiday weekend, which is an 8.3 percent increase over 2009.