Memorial Day 2018: Best And Worst Vehicular Travel Times

PITTSBURGH, PA - If you’re heading out of town this Memorial Day weekend, you won’t be the only one on the road. More than 36.6 million Americans will be traveling by auto during the first unofficial weekend of summer, according to AAA.

So how best to spend the least amount of time in traffic so you can enjoy the greatest amount of time away at the beach, in the mountains or elsewhere? By avoiding peak traffic congestion times as much as possible.

Although those can vary from city to city, AAA and transportation analytics company INRIX predict people will begin bugging out of town as early as Wednesday. But the greatest amount of congestion is expected in the late afternoon on Thursday and Friday as late afternoon commuters leave work early and mix with weekend travelers.

How bad will the traffic be? Some major cities could experience delays twice as long as their normal trips, INRIX predicted.

“Ranked the most congested country in world, U.S. drivers are all too familiar with sitting in traffic,” Graham Cookson, INRIX chief economist and head of research, said in a statement. “Drivers should expect congestion across a greater number of days than in previous years, with the getaway period starting on Wednesday, May 23. Our advice to drivers is to avoid peak commute times in major cities altogether – traveling late morning or early afternoon – or plan alternative routes.”

On return trips home, congestion on Monday could begin as early as 11 a.m. in some cities, with peak traffic tie-ups occurring between 2 p.m. and 4 p.m.

Photo via Shutterstock.

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