US highways could see record delays this Thanksgiving: AAA

With an additional 1.6 million Americans expected to hit the roads this Thanksgiving, US highways could see record-level travel delays, warns the AAA.

In their annual Thanksgiving holiday travel forecast, North America's largest motoring and leisure travel organization estimates that automobile travel will grow 3 percent this season, with 45.5 million Americans planning a road trip next week.

Add to that the number of people expected to travel by plane, train, ferry and bus, and that figure rounds up to nearly 51 million -- the highest Thanksgiving volume recorded since 2005.

In their report, prepared with global transportation analytics company INRIX, authors say travel times in the most congested cities could be as much as three times longer than the optimal trip.

Analysts predict the traffic nightmare could begin as early as Tuesday evening, when commuters mix with holiday travelers.

Meanwhile, Google released an interactive Thanksgiving traffic guide earlier this week, predicting Wednesday to be the busiest travel day. They recommend delaying the drive for Thanksgiving morning.

This year, the most popular Thanksgiving destinations, based on bookings made at AAA.com, are Orlando, Anaheim and New York City.