OCEAN CITY, N.J. (KYW Newsradio) — It’s shaping up to be a great beach weekend with plenty of sun and high temps down the shore this Memorial Day . In fact, the unofficial start of summer is expected to be a record-setting weekend for travelers on the roads and in the sky.
The Jersey Shore is always a popular destination, and this year, it may even see extra foot traffic. Jana Tidwell, spokesperson for AAA Mid-Atlantic , anticipates roughly 515,000 people from the greater Philadelphia area will go on a getaway this weekend .
“More than 90% of local travelers are traveling by car. That’s also up 4% year over year,” she said. “And, we anticipate that road trip travel volume will set a record for the highest road trip travel for the Memorial Day holiday weekend.”
AAA expects record numbers at the airport as well, with nearly 40,000 locals expected to board a plane for their trips.
“All of this is an indicator that not only will summer travel be busy this year, but travel in general will be busy this year,” Tidwell added.
This all continues with a trend of yearly increases in post-pandemic travel. Tidwell said the elimination of travel restrictions plus people’s added comfort in traveling are big contributing factors.
Nationwide, the Transportation Security Administration predicted that Friday will be the busiest day for air travel over the long holiday weekend, with nearly 3 million people expected to pass through airport checkpoints. The number of passengers could rival the record of 2.9 million, set on the Sunday after Thanksgiving last year.
Highways are likely to be jammed too, as AAA predicted this will be the busiest start-of-summer weekend in nearly 20 years, with 43.8 million people expected to roam at least 50 miles from home between Thursday and Monday — with 38 million of them taking vehicles.
So, when’s the best time to hit the road? AAA Mid-Atlantic breaks down the best and worst travel times throughout the weekend:
Friday, May 24
Worst travel time: 12 to 7 p.m.
Best travel time: Before 11 a.m. or after 8 p.m.
Saturday, May 25
Worst travel time: 2 to 5 p.m.
Best travel time: Before 1 p.m. or after 6 p.m.
Sunday, May 26
Worst travel time: 3 to 7 p.m.
Best travel time: Before 1 p.m.
Monday, May 27
Worst travel time: 3 to 7 p.m.
Best travel time: After 7 p.m.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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