TRAVELERS STAGE MASSIVE GETAWAY; AIRPORTS, FREEWAYS, TRAINS JAMMED ON BUSIEST DAY.Byline: Jason Kandel and Phillip W. Browne Staff Writers In what could be the last big holiday travel weekend of the year, travelers took every means available to them to get out of Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, . Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. International and Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport officials anticipated huge numbers of holiday passengers to pass through their gates. Amtrak Amtrak, the National Railroad Passenger Corp., authorized to operate virtually all intercity passenger railroad routes in the United States. Amtrak was created by Congress in 1970 in response to more than two decades of continuous operating deficits by privately run trains were booked to capacity leaving Los Angeles, and the freeways were jammed with motorists heading in all directions around Los Angeles. ``I had more angst on the freeway than in the airport,'' North Hollywood resident Michael Klein Michael Klein can refer to:
Despite the hustle and bustle at the airport, which spokesman Victor Gill described as looking like a ``New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of street scene,'' at least one traveler was oblivious to the significance of the Wednesday before Thanksgiving - known across the United States as the busiest travel day of the year. ``I didn't even know it was a holiday until the pilot reminded us,'' said Dayne Sampson, 32, who stopped to have his shoes shined in Burbank upon his arrival from a business trip in Oakland. Meanwhile, LAX officials were expecting somewhere between 175,000 and 200,000 passengers to pass through the airport Wednesday. Parking lots filled up quickly in and around LAX, and the lot for the Van Nuys FlyAway Bus Terminal was full by 1 p.m. Officials advised passengers, who anticipated taking the bus from the San Fernando Valley San Fernando Valley Valley, southern California, U.S. Northwest of central Los Angeles, the valley is bounded by the San Gabriel, Santa Susana, and Santa Monica mountains and the Simi Hills. to LAX this weekend, to have someone drop them off. Even the rails were expected to carry record numbers of travelers Wednesday. Amtrak spokesman Dominick Albano said the railroad estimated a 35 percent increase in passengers on the day before Thanksgiving this year from 1998. ``It's a crazy day at L.A.,'' said Dominick Albano, an Amtrak spokesman based in Oakland. ``We are at capacity. The trains are full.'' Many people who tried to get out of Los Angeles and the Valley by car also noticed that the freeways were filled to near-capacity as well. Cars began jamming Southern California freeways  The of this article or section may be compromised by "peacock terms".You can help Wikipedia by removing peacock terms. by 2 p.m., especially on the Golden State and San Diego freeways, two of the major arteries in and out of the Valley, said California Highway Patrol Sgt. Ernie Sanchez. Though Sanchez said CHP CHP Chapter CHP Combined Heat and Power CHP California Highway Patrol CHP Cumhuriyet Halk Partisi (Turkish: Republican People's Party) CHP Chemical Hygiene Plan (OSHA) CHP Community Health Plan officers expected traffic to be ``very heavy'' on getaway day, they were preparing for lots of traffic ``on Friday when everyone goes shopping and Sunday when they are coming home.'' The CHP estimates at least 2 million people will be traveling in cars statewide throughout the weekend. Because of the extra holiday traffic, the CHP began their ``maximum enforcement period'' Wednesday night to crack down on motorists who drive too fast or break other traffic laws, Sanchez said. The 102-hour enforcement period is scheduled to end at midnight Sunday, Sanchez said. Last year during the Thanksgiving weekend, five people died in Los Angeles County traffic accidents, and there were 314 arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, Sanchez said. Daily News staff writer Donna Huffaker contributed to this story. CAPTION(S): Photo Photo: People at Union Station wait to board an Amtrak train to San Diego on Wednesday. David Sprague/Staff Photographer |
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