Beat The RI Thanksgiving Traffic: 2018 Travel Guide

CRANSTON, RI—Some 54 million Americans are expected to travel 50 miles or more over the Thanksgiving holiday, according to AAA. Travel times could run four times longer than typical. The question is, how to beat the rush in Rhode Island. According to the experts, people are starting the trip earlier this year, with many hitting the road on Monday.

To keep an eye on what's up ahead, try Google's interactive traffic map. It's color coded. The green lines mean traffic is moving along. The yellow lines mean delays. Red means you're driving into a parking lot.

To bring the live map up on the screen, follow these directions:

Step 1: Click on the white tab in the upper left corner. It says View larger map.

Step 2. Wait the larger map to appear on the screen. Go to the upper left corner and find the white stamp that says Google Search. To the left, you'll see three horizontal bars. Click on those for the menu.

Step 3. Click on Traffic.

That map will show the live conditions, including accidents.

AAA projects the 2018 holiday weekend will see the highest Thanksgiving travel volume since 2005 with 2.5 million more people traveling (by road, air, train and boat) compared with last year.

“Consumers have a lot to be thankful for this holiday season: higher wages, more disposable income and rising levels of household wealth,” said Lloyd Albert, AAA Northeast Senior Vice President of Public and Government Affairs. “This is translating into more travelers kicking off the holiday season with a Thanksgiving getaway, building on a positive year for the travel industry.”

Here's AAA's Advice

The Thanksgiving holiday travel period is defined as Wednesday to Sunday, November 21-25.

By the Numbers: 2018 Thanksgiving Travel Forecast

• Road trip ready: Most travelers – 48.5 million – are planning a Thanksgiving road trip, an increase of 5 percent over last year.
• Fuller skies: The largest growth in holiday travel is by air travel, at 5.4 percent, with 4.27 million travelers.
• Alternate travel: Travel by trains and other modes (including buses and cruises) is expected to increase 1.4 percent to 1.48 million travelers.
• Locally busy: More than 2.4 million New Englanders are among those traveling, over 2.1 million of them by car.

Travelers Beware and Advised: Traffic Hotspots and Best and Worst Times to Hit the Road

Based on historical and recent travel trends for the holiday week, INRIX, in collaboration with AAA, predicts drivers will experience the greatest amount of congestion during the early evening commute – as early as Monday of Thanksgiving week - as commuters mix with holiday travelers.

“Thanksgiving is one of the busiest holidays for road trips, and this year will be no different,” says Trevor Reed, transportation analyst at INRIX. “Knowing when and where congestion will build can help drivers avoid the stress of sitting in traffic. Our advice to drivers is to avoid commuting times in major cities altogether or plan alternative routes.”

Thanksgiving Day, Friday and Saturday are the best travel days.

The worst time to hit the road in Boston is Tuesday between 4 and 6 p.m.

The worst traffic hotspot during Thanksgiving week in the Boston area is I-95 S, exits 41 to 33. Travel could take almost four times longer than usual.

AAA expects to rescue more than 360,000 motorists this Thanksgiving weekend, with the primary reasons being lockouts, flat tires and dead batteries.

Image via Shutterstock