Thanksgiving Traffic 2017: Best Time To Travel From New York, Atlanta And More

Travelling for Thanksgiving and wondering the best time to drive to avoid traffic? Check out traffic predictions and best drive times for major cities like New York, Atlanta, Los Angeles and more, here.

Thanksgiving is nearly here and according to AAA insurance company, nearly 51 million Americans will be jumping in their cars and making the drive to see their loved ones. The numbers for Thanksgiving drivers haven’t been this high since 2005, so if you are among the millions of holiday travelers chances are you need to find the best times to drive to avoid traffic and delays. While there’s no perfect time to drive away from big cities like New York, Atlanta, Los Angeles and other traffic centers, it is possible to avoid the worst jams by the following advice from mapping gurus like Google Maps and Waze. This year Google Maps, in particular, has gone out of its way to bring Thanksgiving travelers the best possible information on when to make the trip to and from Grandma’s house. Below we’ve compiled general advice given by Google and Waze along with specific drive times you should shoot for if you are leaving from cities like Atlanta, Boston, New York and more. Check it out below.

Thanksgiving Traffic 2017: When Is The Best Time To Drive?

Avoid Wednesday Afternoon Travel

While the majority of holiday drivers will be leaving work the Wednesday before Thanksgiving and heading out on the road, According to both Waze and Google Maps, this is the absolute worst time to make your travel. In most major cities around the world, the peak of Thanksgiving traffic jams will be happening around 3-4 p.m. Wednesday afternoon. If you can travel Tuesday morning, your journey should be fairly smooth, according to Waze. However, if you need to travel after work Tuesday, wait until 6 p.m. or later. If you don't mind travelling during the night, the best hours to jump in the car are Tuesday evening from 8 p.m. until Wednesday morning at 4 a.m. Anytime after 4 a.m. on Wednesday will be a horror show, with traffic getting exponentially worse every hour up until midnight.

Consider Thanksgiving Day Travel

If you have no choice but to travel Wednesday afternoon or later, you might consider waiting until Thanksgiving Day to make your trip. According to Google Maps, traffic should be quite low from Midnight on Thanksgiving Day until lunchtime. Getting into the afternoon, traffic will start to pick up again due to early Black Friday sales, but if your family plans a Thanksgiving supper instead of lunch, traveling on Thanksgiving Day may be ideal.

Thanksgiving Day Traffic - Best Times To Travel By City

We’ve included a listing of 10 major cities across the US. You can check Thanksgiving Traffic in other cities mapped by Google, here.

New York Thanksgiving Traffic

• Before Thanksgiving

  • Best Drive Time - Wednesday 4 a.m.

  • Worst Drive Time - Wednesday 4 p.m.

• After Thanksgiving

  • Best Drive Time - Friday 4 a.m.

  • Worst Drive Time - Sunday 3 p.m.

Atlanta Thanksgiving Traffic

• Before Thanksgiving

  • Best Drive Time - Wednesday 4 a.m.

  • Worst Drive Time - Wednesday 3 p.m.

• After Thanksgiving

  • Best Drive Time - Friday 4 a.m.

  • Worst Drive Time - Sunday 4 p.m.

Boston Thanksgiving Traffic

• Before Thanksgiving

  • Best Drive Time - Wednesday 3 a.m.

  • Worst Drive Time - Wednesday 3 p.m.

• After Thanksgiving

  • Best Drive Time - Sunday 5 a.m.

  • Worst Drive Time - Friday 3 p.m.

Charlotte Thanksgiving Traffic

• Before Thanksgiving

  • Best Drive Time - Wednesday 4 a.m.

  • Worst Drive Time - Wednesday 4 p.m.

• After Thanksgiving

  • Best Time - Friday 4 a.m.

  • Worst Time - Sunday 4 p.m.

Chicago Thanksgiving Traffic

• Before Thanksgiving

  • Best Time - Wednesday 3 a.m.

  • Worst Time - Wednesday 4 p.m.

• After Thanksgiving

  • Best Time - Friday 4 a.m.

  • Worst Time - Saturday 4 p.m.

Dallas Thanksgiving Traffic

• Before Thanksgiving

  • Best Time - Wednesday 3 a.m.

  • Worst Time - Wednesday 3 p.m.

• After Thanksgiving

  • Best Time - Friday 4 a.m.

  • Worst Time - Saturday 4 p.m.

San Francisco Thanksgiving Traffic

• Before Thanksgiving

  • Best Time - Wednesday 3 a.m.

  • Worst Time - Wednesday 4 p.m.

• After Thanksgiving

  • Best Time - Friday 4 a.m.

  • Worst Time - Saturday 5 p.m.

Los Angeles Thanksgiving Traffic

• Before Thanksgiving

  • Best Time - Wednesday 4 a.m.

  • Worst Time - Wednesday 4 p.m.

• After Thanksgiving

  • Best Time - Friday 4 a.m.

  • Worst Time - Saturday 2 p.m.

Seattle Thanksgiving Traffic

• Before Thanksgiving

  • Best Time - Thanksgiving 4 a.m.

  • Worst Time - Wednesday 4 p.m.

• After Thanksgiving

  • Best Time - Friday 3 a.m.

  • Worst Time - Saturday 4 p.m.

Washington D.C. Thanksgiving Traffic

• Before Thanksgiving

  • Best Time - Wednesday 3 a.m.

  • Worst Time - Wednesday 3 p.m.

• After Thanksgiving

  • Best Time - Friday 4 a.m.

  • Worst Time - Saturday 4 p.m.