Summer’s unofficial start is going to mean crowded roads and airports in 2024.
AAA predicts nearly 44 million people will be on the road this weekend, the second-biggest number since the company began tracking travelers in 2000.
“We haven’t seen Memorial Day weekend travel numbers like these in almost 20 years,” said Paula Twidale, senior vice president of AAA Travel, in a statement. “We’re projecting an additional 1 million 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 ahead.”
Some 38.4 million people are forecasted to be on the roads this year, with another 3.51 million in the air. (Just shy of 2 million will be traveling via other means.) That’s a 4% increase over 2023’s traffic figures.
Bad traffic conditions will begin as early as Thursday, the organization predicts, with the worst travel times between noon and 6:00 p.m. Friday will see the most congestion between noon and 7:00 p.m. And if you’re traveling between 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. on Monday? Good luck.
Some routes could take up to 88% longer to complete, AAA says, citing data from INREX. Among the worst routes are:
Los Angeles to Bakersfield via I-5 N – Peak congestion will be Thursday 6:15 p.m. with a travel time of 2 hours 45 minutes (84% above normal)
Gainesville, Fla. to Tampa via I-75 S – Peak congestion will be Sunday 9:00 a.m. with a travel time of 3 hours 47 minutes (88% above normal)
Washington, D.C. to Baltimore via Balt/Wash Pkwy N – Peak congestion will be Friday 2:15 p.m. with a travel time of 1 hour 21 minutes (72% above normal)
Gas prices will be largely in line with where they were last year, but airfares and down 9.5% from last year, according to travel site Hopper. The busiest airports, it says, will be Atlanta, Dallas, Denver, Chicago O’Hare and Los Angeles.
Hotels are slightly more expensive than a year ago, while rental cars are costing about the same.