The unofficial start of summer is here and with it, plenty of travel plans for Memorial Day.
According to AAA’s first travel forecast of the summer season, more than more than one million New Jersey residents will travel this Memorial Day Weekend, almost 4 percent more than last year and the highest number of travelers since 2005. Nationally, approximately 43 million Americans will travel for the holiday up 3.6 percent year over year. The Memorial Day holiday travel period is defined as Thursday, May 23 to Monday, May 27.
“The unofficial start of the summer season is here and New Jerseyans are ready to kick off the Memorial Day weekend with a trip,” said Tracy E. Noble, Manager of Public and Government Affairs for AAA Mid-Atlantic. “After a long winter and soggy spring, locals are ready to pack up the car to enjoy a getaway to enjoy sun, sand and the start the summer travel season.”
Impact of gasoline prices on travel plans
The 90 percent of New Jersey residents who will travel by car will not be deterred by the recent increase in prices at the pump and will see prices about 10-12 cents below last year’s average.
“Despite prices hovering above $2.90 per gallon in recent weeks, a recent dip in gas prices is welcome news for motorists as Memorial Day holiday weekend road trips are expected to increase for the fifth straight year,” said Noble.
NJ gas prices for Memorial Day for the past five years:
- 2014 $3.50
- 2015 $2.54
- 2016 $2.15
- 2017 $2.40
- 2018 $3.02
Travel Breakdown:
Automobile
- New Jersey—942,395 (90% of all travelers), up 3.8% compared to the 907,473 who drove in 2018.
- Nationally—37.6 million (88% of all travelers), a 3.5% increase from the 36 million who drove last year.
Air
- New Jersey—72,880(7% of all travelers), up 5% from 69,422 last year.
- Nationally—3.2 million (7.6% of all travelers), an increase of 4.8% from Memorial Day Weekend 2018.
Train, Bus, Watercraft or Multi-Modal Travel
- New Jersey—28,942 (2.8% of all travelers), unchanged from 2018.
- Nationally—About 1.9 million (4.4% of all travelers), an increase of 3.8% from the 2018 holiday weekend.
Drivers Beware: Worst Times to Hit the Road
For the 37.6 million Americans traveling by automobile, INRIX, in collaboration with AAA, predicts drivers will experience the greatest amount of congestion on Thursday, May 23 and Friday, May 24 in the late afternoon as commuters leave work early and mix with holiday travelers. Several major U.S. metros could experience double the travel times compared to a normal trip, while New Yorkers and Washington, D.C., could see three times the delay.