Memorial Day is quickly approaching, and it’s set to be a big travel day.
The American Automobile Association (AAA) projects that a total of 45 million Americans will travel at least 50 miles from home for Memorial Day, between Thursday, May 21, and Monday, May 25.
Of the 45 million Americans traveling this holiday, a record-setting 39.1 million will travel by car, signaling a slight increase from last year.
Even though gas prices are the highest they’ve been since the summer of 2022, driving is the most popular way to travel and makes up 87% of Memorial Day travelers, AAA said.
With all these people hitting the road, certain times of day can help those traveling by car avoid bad traffic and peak congestion.
INRIX, a provider of transportation data and insights, said that the heaviest congestion should be expected on Thursday and Friday between 3 p.m. and 6 p.m., as well as Monday afternoon.
Barring any unexpected events, Sunday should be the lightest day for traffic, with minimal impact expected.
On Thursday, the best time to travel by car is after 9 p.m., while traveling before 11 a.m. is best on Friday and Saturday. Before 10 a.m. is the best time to hit the road on Monday.
The worst times to travel by car are between noon and 9 p.m. on Thursday, 11 a.m. and 8 p.m. on Friday, and noon and 5 p.m. on both Saturday and Monday.
For those renting cars over Memorial Day weekend, rental car company Hertz said that Thursday and Friday are expected to be the busiest pick-up days, with Orlando, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Denver and Boston seeing the highest demand.
“Travel demand remains strong, and despite higher fuel prices, many people are prioritizing leisure travel during holiday breaks,” Stacey Barber, vice president of AAA Travel, said in a statement.
Major US cities will see different peak congestion times as well.
In New York, the worst route for traveling by car is heading southbound to the Jersey Shore via the Garden State Parkway, with Friday at 2:15 p.m. being the worst time to hit the road. That route has a startling travel time increase of 102% and will take an estimated 2 hours and 57 minutes.
The worst route in Los Angeles is traveling via I-10 E to Palm Springs on Friday at 5:30 p.m. With a travel time increase of 88%, it’s estimated to take drivers 4 hours and 21 minutes to get there. San Francisco to Napa via I-80 east is another bad route, with the worst time to travel being Friday at 6:15 p.m.
The route has a travel time increase of 78% and will take an estimated 2 hours and 47 minutes.
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