One of the biggest travel periods of the year is underway and AAA is projecting that this holiday season will be much busier than last year.

According to AAA, more than 109 million people are expected to travel at least 50 miles between December 23 and January 2.

The 109 million projection is up almost 34% (22.7 million) compared to 2020.

AAA statistics for the East North Central region which includes Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Wisconsin say 18.1 million in the region will travel during the holiday period. 16.7 million are projected to travel by car, 941,000 by airplane and 475,000 by other transportation.

The increase in the region for car travel is 27.7% from 2020. Air travel is up 183% while other transportation is at 200.3% over last year.

With more people traveling, AAA expects to respond to as many as 1.3 million calls for help.

If you are planning to travel, the busiest times to travel on December 23 and 24 are between 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. AAA says to travel after 7 p.m. on December 23 or before 1 p.m. on Christmas Eve to avoid some traffic.

According to AAA, travel forecasts could change with the increase in reported COVID-19 cases and because of concerns with the omicron variant.

They say to check CDC travel restrictions and guidance before making a trip.

You can check out the guidelines and restrictions here.