Memorial Day Travel 2025: When To Avoid Worst Congestion In NY Metro Area

NEW YORK — If you are planning to hit the road for the holiday weekend, plan ahead to avoid long waits and traffic jams.

About 45.1 million Americans are expected to travel at least 50 miles from home over the Memorial Day holiday, according to auto club AAA’s travel forecast.

AAA expects this weekend’s domestic travel will set a new record for Memorial Day weekend, breaking the prior record at 44 million people in 2005.

New York is among the top five metro areas in the country expected to experience the heaviest traffic this weekend, AAA reports.

Stacey Barber, vice president of AAA Travel, said the holiday weekend is when many families pack up their cars for a drive to the beach or to visit friends.

“Long holiday weekends are ideal for travel because many people have an extra day off work and students are off from school,” Barber said, in a news release.

AAA says about 39.4 million people will travel by car over Memorial Day weekend nationwide, a one million increase over last year. About 87% of Memorial Day travelers choose car travel, according to AAA.

Gas prices are down this year, with the national average for a gallon at $3.19 as of Friday, compared to $3.59 last year. For New York state as a whole, the average is at $3.13, according to AAA. Westchester County has the highest average gas price in the southern part of the state, at $3.28.

Mornings will be the best time to hit the road, while afternoons will be the most congested, according to INRIX, which provides transportation data and insights and partnered with AAA in the forecast.

The best travel times by car for the remainder of the weekend are before noon on Saturday, before 1 p.m. on Sunday, and before 2 p.m. on Monday, INRIX data shows.

The worst projected travel times include today from noon to 8 p.m., Saturday from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m., Sunday from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., and Monday from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m., according to INRIX. The peak congestion route for the New York metro region is expected to be the Jersey Shore to New York via the Garden State Parkway north, on Monday at 1 p.m.

Air travel is expected to be busy this weekend too, with AAA projecting 3.61 million air passengers, about a 2% increase over last year. AAA projects 2.08 million people will travel by train, bus, or cruise over Memorial Day weekend, an 8.5% increase over last year, according to the news release.