Labor Day Weekend travel: Best times to hit the road to avoid traffic

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – More than half of all Americans are expected to travel this year for Labor Day and that holiday rush starts today. 

Drivers will want to exercise patience as it’s that last vestige of summer vacation and a lot of people are expected to hit the roads this weekend both on the road and in the sky. 

The Pennsylvania Turnpike is projecting big travel numbers Today, with 660,000 vehicles, and 720,000 vehicles on Friday.

They said they will have an estimated 2.7 million travelers this weekend alone – a 2.5% increase from last year.

Air travel is expected to be up as well, especially international travel, which has been lacking in the last few years because of the pandemic.

“This is the first summer that they felt comfortable doing so and we have essentially three years of pent-up demand for international travel,” said Scott Keyes, the founder of Going.com. 

Along with air travel, international cruise bookings are up 44-percent over last year, and international hotel bookings for this holiday weekend are up 82-percent compared with 2022, with big destinations like Vancouver, Rome, London, and Paris.

Whether you are going near or far this holiday weekend, PennDOT and the Pennsylvania State Police want to remind everyone to celebrate responsibly and be responsible when getting on the road.

With so many expected to hit the roads, there are times when you can make sure you avoid the worst of the traffic. 

Today, it’s best to get on the roads before 7 a.m. and tomorrow before 11 a.m.

As for the weekend, the best times on Saturday and Monday are in the evening, around 6 or 7 p.m. 

Experts say that Sunday is statistically the lightest traffic day so that might be a good time to hit the road, as well. 

AAA said that this year’s travel both in the air and on the road has picked up some 4-percent over the last year and this uptick in travel is being attributed to people wanting to travel more post-pandemic.