The Best and Worst Times to Drive This Memorial Day Weekend
The unofficial start of summer is already here. And you know what that means. B-B-Q! Hot dogs! Pools! (And infuriating traffic, oh my! ) While long carefree holiday weekends are indeed enjoyable, getting where you want to go isn’t usually the way to go. And unfortunately, we can’t even rely on ridiculous gas prices to keep people from traveling this weekend.
According to a posting on the website of transportation company INRIX , “AAA predicts that 39.2 million people will travel 50 miles or more from home this Memorial Day weekend. This is an 8.3% increase over 2021, bringing travel volumes almost in line with 2017 levels.”
“Even with a significant increase in gasoline prices, we expect a significant increase in the number of holiday trips compared to the last few years,” said Bob Pishu, transportation analyst at INRIX.
The best and worst times to travel
The website lists the daily best and worst times to travel :
- Thursday: Worst – 13-20 hours; Best before 6 am or after 9 pm.
- Friday: Worst time – 12-19 hours; Best before 7 am or after 9 pm.
- Saturday: The worst time is from 13:00 to 18:00; Best before 10:00
- Sunday: The worst time is from 13:00 to 16:00; Best before 10:00
- Monday: Worst time – 13-16 hours; Best before 11:00 am.
Worst Times to Travel Major Metropolitan Corridors
It also broke the worst corridors and travel times to several metropolitan areas, including Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Houston, and New York, among others.
Atlanta: Worst Corridor: I-85 South; Clairmont Rd to MLK Jr Dr; Worst time: Thursday, 15:30-17:30.
Boston: Worst corridor: I-93 S, Purchase St to MA-24; Worst time: 14:30-16:30.
Chicago: Worst Corridor: I-290 E, IL-110 to Racine Ave; Worst time: Thursday, 15:30-17:30.
Houston: Worst Corridor: I-69 North; from I-610 to I-10; Worst time: Thursday, 16:45-18:45.
Los Angeles: Worst Corridor: I-5 South; Colorado Street to Florence Avenue; Worst time: Friday, 16:45-18:45.
New York: Worst Corridor: I-278 W, Long Island Express to 39th Street; Worst time: Thursday, 15:15-17:15.
Washington DC: Worst Corridor: I-95 South; from I-395 to VA-123; Worst time: Thursday, 15:45-17:45.
General recommendations
Of course, always expect delays and take extra time into account when traveling by car on holiday weekends. Keep in mind that generally the worst day to travel around the country is Thursday, May 26th. Friday is another busy day, while Saturday, Sunday and Monday are less so. “On (Memorial Day itself), travel time isn’t all that bad,” Pishu told USA Today . “(Traffic) is more distributed throughout the day.”
“We recommend that you usually leave before 6 or 7 am, and on weekends – on Saturday, Sunday, Monday – before 10 or 11 (am),” Pishu said.