Report: July 4th Travel ‘Four Times’ More Congested Than Normal, AAA Says

As vacationers look to get out of town for the 4^th of July, many may have a delayed start to their getaways as nearly 41.4 million Americans will be on the road this week and weekend, according to report from AAA. The organization has indicated that holiday travel volume is expected to rise 4.1 percent over 2018, with an additional 1.9 million people hitting the road to celebrate the holiday.

Travelers driving to their destination may experience as much as four times the delays of a normal commute on Wednesday, which AAA and its analytics partner, INRIX, said, will be “the worst day on the roads.”

“With record-level travelers hitting the road this holiday, drivers must be prepared for delays around our major metros,” said Trevor Reed, transportation analyst at INRIX. “Although travel times are expected to nominally increase throughout the week, hands down, Wednesday afternoon will be the worst time to be on the road.”

Lower gas prices are making it easier for vacationers to get away this summer, as gas prices have decreased by 23 cents over last year, motivating travelers to take a summer vacation over the holiday weekend.

“Gas prices are, on average, 20 cents cheaper than Memorial Day weekend, which is welcome news for motorists hitting the road to celebrate the July Fourth holiday,” said Nick Jarmusz, Midwest director of public affairs for AAA – The Auto Club Group . “More so, summer gas prices are poised to continue dropping even lower in coming weeks.”

For travelers looking to rent a car to get to their vacation destination, they may find that Wednesday is the busiest pickup day with rental car pickup at airports in Orlando, Los Angeles, Denver, Las Vegas, and San Francisco, seeing the highest volume, the report said.

Travelers that will be flying for the 4^th of July can also expect some congestion as Orlando, Honolulu, Seattle, Las Vegas, Anaheim, California, New York, Boston, Maui, Anchorage, and Chicago will reportedly be the most visited destinations by air or car. Europe has also come in as a popular spot to visit over the holiday with Rome, London, Dublin and Paris, leading as the favorite tourist destinations.