August 27, 2024
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The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission expects Friday to be the busiest travel day over the next five days.
Travelers should plan for more traffic this holiday weekend than last year as experts anticipate record-breaking numbers of drivers on the Pennsylvania Turnpike and an increase of vehicles on roads across the United States.
From Thursday, Aug. 29, to Monday, Sept. 2, the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission expects 2.9 million motorists on its roadways. That's higher than last year's 2.84 million drivers and slightly over the record 2.89 million drivers seen over Labor Day weekend in 2019. Roadways across the country should be busy as well, with domestic travel for the holiday up 9% nationally compared with 2023, according to AAA.
Lower travel costs in 2024 might be a contributing factor to more people being willing to hit the road. According to AAA, rental cars are about 16% cheaper than this time last year and the cost of domestic travel in the United States has gone down 2%. Locally, gas prices in the five-county area around Philadelphia are averaging $3.40 per gallon — about 50 cents less than Labor Day 2023.
The commission expects Thursday and Friday to have the most drivers over the five-day stretch, projecting 670,000 and 720,000 vehicles each day, respectively, on the turnpike.
To keep up with the large number of motorists, the commission said it will have additional safety teams on the highway and Pennsylvania State Police will be upping patrols. Construction and maintenance will also be suspended from 3 p.m. Thursday to 11 p.m. Monday, so all lanes will be open to minimize traffic congestion.
Traffic analytics company INRIX said the most congested hours will be in the afternoon and early evening on Thursday and Friday. It said the best time to travel is in the mornings, expect on Saturday when the least heavy traffic will be in the afternoon.
