Travel

Thanksgiving travel is off to a relatively smooth start this year

Millions are driving or flying for Thanksgiving this year. Most are expected to get where they're going smoothly.

Thanksgiving travel is off to a relatively smooth start this year
Matt Rourke / AP
SMS

The Thanksgiving travel surge is now well underway, and so far it's running relatively smoothly.

About 2.7 million people are expected to make a plane trip on Wednesday, according to the Transportation Security Administration, while AAA expects more than 49 million people will drive to a Thanksgiving gathering.

Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport set a record for its busiest morning ever, when it moved 32,000 people through before 8 a.m.

Airline officials said they were confident they could avoid major disruptions, despite the threat of severe weather in the Northeast and despite a Tuesday explosion on a bridge from Canada into New York that has prompted new security precautions.

FBI: Deadly explosive vehicle crash closes US-Canada border crossing
FBI: Deadly explosive vehicle crash closes US-Canada border crossing

FBI: Deadly explosive vehicle crash closes US-Canada border crossing

New York police worked with the FBI to monitor all points of entry into the United States after a dramatic, explosive and deadly vehicle crash.

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The Niagara Falls Bridge Commission said four bridges between the U.S. and Canada were closed for a time on Wednesday after a vehicle on the Rainbow Bridge near Niagara Falls crashed at high speed and exploded. Buffalo International Airport had enacted extra security measures in response to the crash.

Meanwhile, heavy snow is in the forecast both for the Northeast and for northern parts of the Rocky Mountains. The National Weather Service says parts of Maine could receive up to eight inches of snow. Parts of Wyoming could see up to a foot of accumulation.