MA Memorial Day 2022 Travel: Worst Traffic Times, Gas Prices

MASSACHUSETTS — Memorial Day 2022 is shaping up to be the biggest in years.

After the coronavirus pandemic mostly sidelined the traditional start to summer in 2020, holiday travel came back big in 2021. This year, AAA is predicting an 8 percent increase in travel — the second-highest year-over-year increase since 2010 — even with near $5 gas prices, higher airline fares and an extremely contagious coronavirus variant circulating at high levels.

"AAA predicts 39.2 million people will travel 50 miles or more for the holiday," the travel organization said in its annual Memorial Day forecast. "The bulk of holiday travelers will drive, with nearly 35 million hitting the road, about 89 percent of all travelers. Air travel will increase 25 percent over last year, totaling more than 3 million. Travel in the other category, bus, train or cruise ship, will increase 300 percent, with more than 1 million traveling."

If you're preparing to hit the road — or the sky or rails — this week, here's to look out for in Massachusetts and beyond this Memorial Day weekend:

Gas prices

As of Monday, gas price averages were hovering between $4.62 and $4.77 per gallon in Boston, Worcester and Springfield.

Even if you're driving out of Massachusetts, every New England state had an average gas price above about $4.6 per gallon, according to AAA. You won't find gas below $4.50 per gallon in any nearby state, unless you're headed to West Virginia or Ohio.

The rise in prices will likely continue into the holiday weekend due to higher demand and lower supply, according to AAA.

And there likely won't be relief coming at the local level. The Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance has been honking its horn about a gas tax holiday in the state, but Gov. Charlie Baker and state House and Senate leaders have declined to go that route. The Massachusetts gas excise tax is 24 cents per gallon, and funds road and highway improvements statewide.

Connecticut has suspended its 25 cent gas tax through June, but that hasn't resulted in much lower prices. At the closest stations near the tri-state border off of I-395, the cheapest gas was $4.67 per gallon as of Tuesday. That's about the same price as in nearby Webster, according to GasBuddy.

Traffic

AAA expects Thursday and Friday to be the busiest driving days of the weekend, and Thursday the busiest at local airports.

A good way to avoid traffic jams over Memorial Day is to check the MassDOT live traffic map. The map shows volumes at key choke points like the Cape Cod bridge, I-93 and the entire length of the Mass Pike.

But if you don't want to drive, public transportation offers an alternative. The MBTA's CapeFLYER train will resume service starting Friday and lasting through Memorial Day weekend. A round trip ticket from South Station in Boston to Hyannis costs $40 for adults, and it's free for kids under 11.

And as a reminder, the MBTA — including buses, subways, ferries and commuter rail — will operate on a Sunday schedule on Memorial Day. Check holiday schedules for other local transit systems here:

• Worcester Regional Transit Authority
• MetroWest Regional Transit Authority
• Merrimack Valley Regional Transit Authority
• Lowell Regional Transit Authority
• Greater Attleboro Taunton Regional Transit Authority
• Brockton Area Transit
• Cape Ann Transportation Authority
• Cape Cod Regional Transit Authority

Ba.2 circulating

Coronavirus cases in Massachusetts and around New England are at high levels right now due to the omicron subvariant ba.2.

The statewide positive test rate rose to 9.35 percent on May 18, a level not seen since the end of January. Hospitalizations also hit about 900 statewide on that date, the highest since mid-February — although not nearly as high as the omicron peak in mid-January when more than 3,200 across the state were in a hospital due to coronavirus.

On Monday, the state reported more than 7,600 new cases from over the weekend. That's actually down significantly from the 10,789 cases reported over the weekend of May 13.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has rated 11 out of 14 counties in Massachusetts as having high community transmission of COVID-19. At that level, the CDC recommends wearing a mask while indoors, and while traveling — including aboard buses and planes, and in travel hubs like airports and train stations.