The unofficial start of summer in 2024 will mean congestion on roads and airports.
AAA predicts about 44 million people will be on the road this weekend, the second-highest total since the company began tracking travelers in 2000.
“We haven’t seen this level of travel over Memorial Day weekend in almost 20 years,” said Paula Tweedale, senior vice president of AAA Travel. in the statement. “We’re forecasting 1 million more travelers this holiday weekend compared to 2019, which not only means we’re exceeding pre-pandemic levels, but also signals a very busy summer travel season is ahead.”
About 38.4 million people are projected to be on the roads this year and another 3.51 million in the air. (Just about 2 million will travel by other means.) That’s a 4% increase over 2023 traffic figures.
The organization predicts poor road conditions will begin as early as Thursday, with the worst travel time expected to be between noon and 6 p.m. On Friday, the busiest hours will be from noon to 7:00 p.m. And if you travel from 15:00 to 19:00. Monday evenings? Good luck.
Some routes may go up to 88% longer to be completed, AAA reports, citing INREX data. Among the worst routes:
Los Angeles to Bakersfield via I-5 N – Peak traffic will be on Thursday at 18:15, travel time will be 2 hours 45 minutes (84% above normal).
Gainesville, FL to Tampa via I-75 S – Peak traffic will be on Sunday at 9:00 am, travel time will be 3 hours 47 minutes (88% higher than normal).
Washington, DC to Baltimore via Balt/Wash Pkwy N – Peak traffic will be on Friday at 14:15, travel time will be 1 hour 21 minutes (72% above normal).
Gas prices will be largely the same as last year, but airfare will be down 9.5% from last year. according to travel website Hopper. The busiest airports will be Atlanta, Dallas, Denver, Chicago O’Hare and Los Angeles, he said.
Hotels are slightly more expensive than they were a year ago, and car rentals cost about the same.