ATLANTIC COUNTY, N.J. (WPVI) — Drivers heading to the shore on Friday afternoon saw slow-moving traffic for several miles coming off the Walt Whitman bridge, but many travelers said the start of the holiday weekend was smoother than they anticipated.

Aldara Madden, who was traveling with her friend Elana Maser, said the trip moved faster than she expected.

“I was expecting it to take a lot longer,” she said.

Maser added that they left school early to avoid delays.

“My mom and I do that every year and then we always stop here as our little pre-down the shore,” she said.

Others shared similar experiences.

“I’m coming from Bucks County, so I was worried there was gonna be some traffic but it really wasn’t bad at all,” said Erin McFadden of Churchville, who was headed to Ocean City.

AAA reported that while slightly more people are traveling by car this year compared to last, 2026 is projected to have the lowest year-over-year travel growth rate in more than a decade, excluding the steep drop seen in 2020 during the pandemic.

The organization attributes the slowdown largely to concerns over rising prices.

“Gas is ridiculously expensive and I think all the time before going anywhere these days,” said Debbie Maser of Philadelphia. “But this is our happy place and nothing can keep us away.”

A dreary weekend forecast may also be influencing travel patterns.

“I was thinking that, I wonder if there’ll be less congestion on the roads because of the weather,” said Kyra Wolin of Massachusetts. “It’s not looking to be too good this weekend with the rain.”

Still, many shore-bound travelers said tradition outweighs any concerns about rain or crowds.

“No not at all. You go down. You get it done,” said George Miller of Lansdale.

Eric Wolin of Massachusetts agreed: “Never, never. Margate’s a special place for us.”

As the unofficial start of summer begins, travelers said they remain committed to kicking off the season in their favorite spots, not letting rain, traffic, or high prices keep them away.

This story is part of the WHYY News Climate Desk, bringing you news and solutions for our changing region.

From the Poconos to the Jersey Shore to the mouth of the Delaware Bay, what do you want to know about climate change? What would you like us to cover? Get in touch.

As summer begins, New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill is urging residents to limit lawn watering, and hand water flowers and shrubs as a drought warning continues. The warning, in place since December 2025, could turn into a drought emergency if conditions do not improve. The state has suffered eight consecutive months of below-normal rainfall, according to officials.

“New Jersey is experiencing a chronic water supply drought, the scale of which we haven’t seen in more than twenty years,” state geologist Steven Domber said in a statement issued earlier this month. “The indicators that we track closely are showing persistently dry conditions. With uncertainty for rainfall in the coming months, we need residents to conserve water today, to ensure we have enough to sustain our needs over the summer.”

The Department of Environmental Protection uses a variety of indicators to determine drought levels, including precipitation, stream flows, reservoir levels, ground water levels and demand.

In addition to the last two months, officials say, the state “experienced below normal precipitation for 20 of the last 24 months since September 2024,” despite heavy snowfall events this past winter that helped restore reservoirs in North Jersey.

“While we saw a little relief over the winter, New Jersey is feeling the effects of nearly two years of below-normal precipitation,” Sherrill said in a statement earlier this month. She urged residents to voluntarily conserve water.

New Jersey state climatologist David Robinson said that since precipitation has been below normal for most of the last 24 months, the recent winter weather did not provide enough water to help restore streams and groundwater.

Should a drought emergency be declared, mandatory water restrictions would be put in place. The last drought emergency lasted almost a year, between March 2002 and January 2003.

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani proudly announced a deal Thursday that will allow residents of NYC — and only NYC — to buy 1,000 World Cup tickets for $50 each. And before he even finished his news conference, New Jersey officials made it clear what they thought of an arrangement that leaves them out.

“FIFA not caring about costs for New Jersey residents isn’t new,” said Stephen Sigmund, a spokesperson for N.J. Gov. Mikie Sherrill. “This is just another reason why Governor Sherrill is working hard to lower costs on our own.”

Officials in both states told ESPN that they see the deal as a reward to Mamdani for wooing FIFA and the New York-New Jersey Host Committee, while Sherrill is essentially being punished for her criticisms of both since taking office in January.

The perception that New York is the favored child seems to be a source of pride for both states.

One New Jersey official said the Garden State will soon be offering its own discounted ticket program, but with the support of corporate sponsors, not the host committee or FIFA.

A spokesperson for Mamdani declined comment on the dynamic. Under the deal Mamdani announced Thursday morning, the tickets are coming from the host committee’s own allotment, which were purchased from FIFA at face value.

Two sources familiar with negotiations said the deal needed FIFA’s approval, and that Mamdani had worked with FIFA president Gianni Infantino since March to get it.

“We are making sure that working people will not be priced out of the game that they helped to create,” Mamdani told reporters.

Two New Jersey members of Congress, Democrats Nellie Pou, who represents the district where the stadium is, and Frank Pallone Jr., said they aren’t happy with the deal. They sent a letter to FIFA two weeks ago asking for explanations about FIFA’s ticket policies, which they called “opaque” and “potentially deceptive.”

“This publicity stunt does nothing to address the cost of tickets,” they said in a joint statement Thursday. “One thousand tickets spread over seven games, by our math, amounts to 0.17% of available tickets for those games. FIFA must respond to our inquiry on their questionable ticketing practices and take broader measures now, right now, to lower ticket prices for all the fans. Time is running very short for real action.”

A FIFA source said the deal was between the host committee and Mamdani’s office.

“FIFA was only involved to the extent that it wanted to make sure the discounted tickets went to fans who genuinely planned to attend the games and be in the stadium,” the source said, which the parties satisfied by saying fans won’t get their tickets until they board a bus to the games.

A source with direct knowledge of World Cup planning conversations said the host committee doesn’t agree that anyone is playing favorites.

“In terms of what the asks have been, it’s been different for both sides of the river, but it’s not a reflection of the relationship between the host committee and either side,” the source said. “The host committee is working with the governor’s office and the mayor’s office daily and they just have different priorities. Mamdani ran on this affordability campaign and today he fulfilled a campaign promise.”

For Mamdani’s administration, the deal is a sign that the mayor has been engaged with Infantino with the same patient, head-down diplomacy that led to his surprisingly cordial meetings with President Donald Trump in November and February.

For Sherrill, the alleged slight to New Jersey is the price of a governor standing up against a deal she thought was bad for her state.

Sherrill has been clear that she is not pleased with the deal her administration inherited from the previous governor, fellow Democrat Phil Murphy, whose wife, Tammy, is the chair of the host committee’s board of directors. Sherrill said the original deal signed by then-Gov. Murphy left New Jersey residents with too much of the cost of transportation and security.

In his statement on Sherrill’s behalf, Sigmund trumpeted steps she has taken, “including securing $3.6 million to discount tickets for NJ Transit riders whose commutes are impacted by the World Cup games, and why we are maximizing the economic benefits and excitement of the games throughout the State.”

Soon after taking office, Sherrill canceled the planned fanfest in Liberty State Park, in part because she felt the event would be more accessible to New Yorkers arriving by boat than New Jersey drivers negotiating what can be brutal traffic to the park, as ESPN recently reported. Instead, she announced that the state would reallocate $5 million for the fanfest to a series of community-based events around the state.

Sherrill’s administration also raised the cost of a round trip from Manhattan’s Penn Station to $98 dollars on game days, drawing the ire of New Yorkers and international fans. Sherrill has said the burden for an estimated $48 million in additional transit costs should be borne by visitors, not New Jersey residents.

Under the ticket program announced Thursday, New Yorkers will be able to register for a drawing that will take place Monday morning. The 1,000 tickets will be spread over the seven games leading up to the final, which will also be played in New Jersey. The city will provide free bus transportation for those fans.

As of Thursday morning, the cheapest tickets available for New York-New Jersey through FIFA’s last-minute direct sales website were $1,550 to see Norway play Senegal in the group stage. There are more affordable tickets available on the FIFA Marketplace — the governing body’s resale site — where a seat for Norway-Senegal can be purchased for under $400.