Fourth Of July: The Worst Time To Travel Around NY Metro Area

A record-breaking number of people — almost 49 million — will be taking to the highways and skyways in the United States this Fourth of July holiday, according to AAA.

The auto club says 48.9 million Americans will travel more than 50 miles for Independence Day this year, more than a 4 percent increase over last year. That's the most since AAA began tracking in 2000.

Most of those folks, a record 41.4 million Americans, will travel by car. And for them, delays could run up to four times the normal commute time.

“With record-level travelers hitting the road this holiday, drivers must be prepared for delays around our major metros,” said Trevor Reed of global mobility analytics company INRIX. “Although travel times are expected to nominally increase throughout the week, hands down, Wednesday afternoon will be the worst time to be on the road.”

The worst time to be driving around the New York metro area will be 1:45-3:45 p.m. Wednesday, the prognosticators said. In fact, it'll be three times worse than usual — and usual isn't a walk in the park.

Gas prices are lower than last year — the national average this week was $2.66. That might convince even stay-at-homes to take an excursion.

SEE: One Tank Adventure: Walkway Over the Hudson

But that may be the only good news on the price front. According to AAA’s Leisure Travel Index, airfares on average are 10% more expensive compared with last Independence Day, while average car rental rates are 5% higher than last year, at $69 daily.

Orlando and Honolulu are the top destinations for travelers this year, according to AAA. Also, travelers are headed overseas. Hope everyone has their vaccinations.

The US is experiencing the biggest measles outbreak since measles was declared eliminated in 2000, and it is due to unvaccinated Americans catching the highly contagious virus while abroad and bringing it home as well as unvaccinated visitors to America, according to the Centers for Disease Control.

Paige McAtee, Patch Staff, contributed to this report.