Memorial Day is basically synonymous with traffic jams, as millions of Americans hit the roads the make the most of a long weekend. To figure out how to beat the bumper-to-bumper blues, I got in touch with the data experts over at Google and Waze, whose huge stash of traffic and search data may offer a bit of a crystal ball when it.
For more useful pre-travel information, you can also check out my analysis of Google-provided data on where and how Americans are expected to travel this Memorial Day.
These are the worst days to hit the road
If you can set sail on Thursday or Saturday, you may want to try. Not surprisingly, the Friday before Memorial Day is the worst for getting out of town. "Friday is already the worst day for traffic, so don't be surprised when congestion spikes Friday afternoon,” says Trak Lord, a Waze data analyst and the author of the Data-Waze.com blog. “Last year, compared to a typical Friday, we saw a 6% increase in drivers on the road along with an 8% increase in the number of drives on the Friday before Memorial Day.
And it may be obvious, but Monday is the worst day to come back home. “Remember that no matter when you leave—Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday—for Memorial Day Weekend, everyone comes back Monday afternoon,” says Lord Tuesday.
One way to beat the traffic: Stay put. “Our data shows that people tend to drive around 15% farther than usual, meaning less traffic for you in your area,” Lord says. “That is, unless you live by a lake, beach, or national tourist attraction—in which case you should probably leave town too.”
Police activity is up on Memorial Day—and accidents are down
Holidays often come with liberal doses of libations, and can be be downright dangerous days to drive. Surprisingly, Memorial Day is an exception. As with other holidays, local law enforcement agencies tend to crank up their on-road presence during this day. But, according to Lord, the roads actually tend to be rather safe on Memorial Day, with accident reports coming in well below average.
Try to avoid the following routes and destinations
According to data supplied by Google Maps, the following routes from select major cities experienced the greatest uptick in directional search queries over Memorial Day last year, as compared to a typical weekend. If history is any precedent, you can expect a similar surge in traffic this coming holiday.
Most Searched Directions from NYC
Middletown, CT (159 times higher than the average weekend)
East Rutherford, NJ (128 times higher than the average weekend)
Portland, ME (119 times higher than the average weekend)
Berlin Township, NJ (104 times higher than the average weekend)
Centereach (97 times higher than the average weekend)
Most Searched Directions from Boston
New London, CT (160 times higher than the average weekend)
Barnstable (100 times higher than the average weekend)
Swampscott (78 times higher than the average weekend)
Bar Harbor, ME (61 times higher than the average weekend)
Rockport, MA (59 times higher than the average weekend)
Most Searched Directions from Chicago
Moline (175 times higher than the average weekend)
Oak Forest (128 times higher than the average weekend)
Detroit (81 times higher than the average weekend)
Oswego (78 times higher than the average weekend)
Lisle (77 times higher than the average weekend)
Most Searched Directions from Los Angeles
Palm Springs (180 times higher than the average weekend)
San Diego (Del Mar, Encinitas) (121 times higher than the average weekend)
Las Vegas (89 times higher than the average weekend)
Three Rivers (76 times higher than the average weekend)
Santa Barbara (58 times higher than the average weekend)
