Area's holiday travel is off to a smooth start

The weather gods smiled on Philadelphia-area travelers during one of the busiest days on Wednesday, with a morning rain easing as people rushed to cars, trains, and planes for Thanksgiving destinations.

At 30th Street Station, on what Amtrak calls its most hectic day, some regional lines were running 15 to 30 minutes late around noon while others were on schedule. The passenger line for the Keystone service to New York City snaked around the stairway shortly before an 11:45 a.m. departure.

"Nothing bad has happened yet," said a hopeful Betsy Goodman, amid the throng in the landmark high-ceiling station. The second-year medical student at the University of Pennsylvania was waiting for a train to Virginia to join up with family and celebrate Thanksgiving with her grandparents. "Last year my train was really delayed, about two or three hours, and I'm hoping that doesn't happen again," she said.

Heading in the opposite direction, north to her home in Connecticut, was Alison Welch, a history major at St. Joseph's University. She grabbed a train a year ago on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, a less heavily traveled day. "This is as bad as I've seen it," she said of the crowds looking up at the signboard for track information.

Amtrak reported that a year ago it transported a record 134,230 passengers on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, and a record 704,446 for the holiday week. The passenger rail line said it was anticipating a similarly strong ridership this year.

In South Philadelphia, operations at Philadelphia International Airport were running with amazing smoothness after 100 canceled inbound and outbound flights on Tuesday.

"There are no delays reported for arrivals or departures," said an ecstatic airport spokeswoman, Victoria Lupica, about 2:15 p.m. "We're looking good and we think the weather is clearing. . . . I'm so happy I can see the sky again."

Delays were reported in Boston, New York, Newark, and San Francisco because of weather.

Lupica said that about 90,000 passengers were expected to fly into or out of the airport on Wednesday and that the number could rise to 100,000 people on Sunday, which will likely be the busiest day for the airport over the holiday. Thanksgiving itself will be the slowest day of the holiday stretch, with about 36,000 to 40,000 using the airport.

Seeking to relieve the stress of delayed planes, missed connections, and security checks, the airport has scheduled live entertainment. On Wednesday, WIP sports-radio talker Angelo Cataldi broadcast from the Terminal B/C food court.

Nothing was scheduled for Thursday, but on Friday harpist Martina Miller was set to strum soothing notes in the Terminal E rotunda while strolling jazz players also lighten the mood. On Sunday, a doo-wop band was on the entertainment card.

An assortment of food outlets await those who haven't eaten enough turkey. Lupica noted that Chickie's & Pete's opened its fourth outlet in the airport on Tuesday. "We don't want this to be the part of the holiday that people dread," she said of the airport experience.

Most people will travel by car, and AAA Mid-Atlantic projects 3.5 percent more travelers this year than a year ago, said Jim Lardear, spokesman for the organization. It's the first major holiday in 2011 for which the club is anticipating more travelers, he said.

The reason: gas prices. Earlier this week, gas prices on the Pennsylvania side of the Delaware River were $3.42 a gallon, which was higher than the gas prices a year ago of $3.03 a gallon but lower than the prices around the Memorial Day weekend, when they were about $4 a gallon. South Jersey gas prices were $3.18 a gallon this week, compared with $2.89 a year ago. The difference is because of taxes.

Eighty-nine percent of travelers are expected to travel by car, 9 percent by air, and 2 percent by bus or rail.