These Cities Are Expected to Have the Worst Traffic Ove…

Travelers are getting ready to hit the roads with a record-breaking Thanksgiving holiday season on the horizon, and traffic will be worse in some cities than others.

The highest increase in traffic is expected to be found in the area around New York City, according to AAA. There, traffic is forecast to be 133 percent worse than usual when traveling East along the Long Island Expressway between the city and the Hamptons on Tuesday afternoon. 

Traffic will also be particularly bad around Washington, D.C. on US-50 E between the capital and Annapolis, Maryland. Tuesday will likely see a 120 percent increase in traffic compared to the usual grind. 

That same day, Seattle will see a 119 percent increase in traffic from the city to Ellensburg, Washington, along I-90 W; while drivers on I-95 N from Boston to Portsmouth, New Hampshire, will have to deal with traffic that is 117 percent worse than usual. 

In Los Angeles — a city notorious for having bad traffic on even the best days — traffic will be the worst on Wednesday evening when travelers on I-5 N will see a 111 percent increase in crowds on the way to Bakersfield, California.

Some cities will see smaller increases, like Houston, where travelers headed to the city from Galveston, Texas, on I-45 N are only expected to see a 30 percent increase in traffic. The worst day for driving there will be Dec. 2.

Bob Pishue, a transportation analyst at INRIX, which provides data to AAA, said drivers should track traffic apps and local news alerts, especially “in metropolitan areas like Boston, New York, LA, Seattle, and Washington, DC, where traffic is expected to be more than double what it typically is on a normal day.” 

Overall, more than 71 million Americans are expected to travel by car over the Thanksgiving holidays between Nov. 26 and Dec. 2. That’s 1.3 million more drivers than last year, with the busiest days forecast to be on Tuesday and Wednesday.

In general, travelers hoping to avoid the worst of the traffic should consider leaving on Thanksgiving Day itself or departing in the mornings on the days leading up to Turkey Day.