Memorial Day 2018: Worst Times To Travel Around NoVA, DC Area

WASHINGTON, DC—A record-high number of DC metropolitan area residents will be traveling for the Memorial Day holiday this year, AAA Mid-Atlantic projects.

An estimated 1,053,400 people will travel by car, train, airplane or boat over the weekend of May 26-28, a nearly 5 percent increase from last year. That's roughly 17 percent of the metropolitan area's population traveling. They will join more than 41.5 million Americans traveling nationwide.

This marks the fifth straight year of travel growth from the DC area during Memorial Day weekend. In comparison, 843,500 DC area residents traveled for the holiday in 2001, the first year AAA began tracking holiday travel.

It's the second year travelers are expected to exceed 1 million. As a result, travel delays will more than double or triple in some cases in major roads in the area, INRIX predicts.

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"Ponder the magnitude of it all. Memorial Day holiday travel volume in the Washington metro area will be 41 percent higher than it was in the region during 2009, which represented the recession driven low," said John B. Townsend II, AAA Mid-Atlantic’s manager of public and government affairs. "Compounding matters, depending upon the day and time they hit the road, some metro area travelers could face delays of 2.3 times to 3.5 times the normal trip."

By the Numbers: Memorial Day 2018 Travel Forecast

• This year will be the fifth straight year of travel growth in the metro area.
• Automobiles: More than 938,800 DC area residents will drive to their destinations, 4.9 percent more that last year.
• Airplanes: 84,900 DC area residents will take to the skies, 7.5 percent more than last year.
• Trains, Buses, Rails and Cruise Ships: About 29,700 residents will travel by other means, 1 percent more than last year.

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Projected Delays on DC Area Roads

What to Know From VDOT

The Virginia Department of Transportation expects the most heavy congestion to happen between noon and 6 p.m. on Friday and Monday and midday on Saturday and Sunday. To ease congestion, most highway work zones lane closures on interstates and other major roads in Virginia will be lifted from noon Friday, May 25 until noon Tuesday, May 29.

HOV restrictions will be lifted on Interstates 66 and 395 Monday, as well as tolls on 66 Express Lanes inside the Beltway.

Check traffic conditions before you hit the road:

• See VDOT's Memorial Day weekend travel trends map to anticipate the best times to travel.
• Visit 511 Virginia for real-time information about traffic, congestion and accidents or download the free mobile VDOT 511 app.
• Call 800-FOR-ROAD (800-367-7623) 24 hours a day.
• Find HOV schedules and tolls on VDOT's website.
• Follow VDOT on Twitter and Facebook.
• Ease your travel with E-ZPass. Visit ezpassva.com to enroll online and for a list of E-ZPass retail locations.
• Use the Express Lanes mobile app to check real-time toll prices and traffic cameras or follow
• Follow the Express Lanes on Twitter @VAExpressLanes for updates
• Find rest stops along interstate roads.

Expect High Gas Prices

Travelers will pay the most expensive Memorial Day gas prices since 2014. In the DC metro area, Monday’s average price was $2.90, which was 57 cents more per gallon than last year. AAA Mid-Atlantic attributes the sharp price increase to expensive crude oil, record gasoline demand and shrinking global supply. But given the busy travel forecast, these higher prices aren't going to deter people from traveling.

Image via Win McNamee/Getty Images