MAINE, USA — A new report says nearly half of Americans are traveling this holiday season, which means major traffic on the roadways and long lines at airport security checkpoints.
TripAdvisor surveyed more than 2,300 people for its annual holiday travel survey and found 46% of people are planning to drive and 44% are planning to fly.
Numbers like those are a big reason why the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is urging Mainers to get their REAL ID-compliant driver’s licenses this month. The agency says waiting till the deadline of October 2020, when every person who is 18 years old or older will be required to have a REAL ID to travel by air in the U.S., will cause long wait times at Maine Bureau of Motor Vehicles offices.
They also point out that millions of people are traveling this month, so they are asking all travelers at the Portland International Jetport to arrive at the security checkpoint two hours early for domestic flights and three hours early for international flights.
The TSA says it screens about 2,900 passengers on an average day at the Portland Jetport. "But on the busiest days leading up to and immediately after Christmas and New Year’s," an agency statement went on to explain, "TSA expects to screen upwards of 3,100 passengers from Portland."
