Best, Worst Times to Travel on Long Island This Thanksgiving Weekend

When are drivers most likely to fill Long Island roadways as they travel for Thanksgiving this year? The worst day of Thanksgiving travel is fast approaching: it's the day before Thanksgiving.

According to AAA, 48.7 million motorists will travel 50 miles or more for Thanksgiving, which is the highest number of travelers on this day since 2007. About 89 percent of these travelers will drive to their destinations between Wednesday and Sunday.

About 3.6 million people will fly over this holiday weekend, which is 1.6 percent higher than last year despite the cost of airfare being 20 percent higher on the top 40 domestic routes, AAA says. Another reported 1.4 million will use other forms of transportation like a cruise, train or bus to get to their destination.

Whether you’re traveling by car, train or plane, Patch has compiled traffic tips and statistics to help you get through this traffic-heavy weekend as seamlessly as possible.

Best and Worst Times to Travel

Google Trends released some holiday tips using historical Google Maps traffic data. The best time to leave has already passed: it was this Sunday at 6 a.m. The worst time to travel is Wednesday at 3 p.m.

When you're coming home, do it the day after Thanksgiving, Friday at 6 a.m. The worst time is Saturday at 4 p.m., according to Google.

Traffic app Waze tells ABC News Thanksgiving, Black Friday or Saturday are the best times to travel for the holiday weekend. Waze predicts that Wednesday morning will be OK, but the afternoon and evening will see a 20 percent increase in traffic. On Sunday, traffic is expected to increase by 240 percent.

Thanksgiving Day Travel

The number of drivers passing through New York City bridges and tunnels on Thanksgiving day have increased over the past two years. There were 679,127 drivers using the facilities on Thanksgiving in 2014 and that number rose 16 percent to 724,666 in 2015, according to AAA.

To prevent an increased number of traffic, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority is suspending maintenance at its nine bridges and tunnels from Wednesday at 6 a.m. to the end of Monday morning rush hour. Exceptions are the work at the Queens Midtown Tunnel and Hugh L. Carey Tunnel through the weekend, and work at the Henry Hudson Bridge northbound toll plaza, the MTA says.

If you want to skip the long lines at the tolls, it’s best to put your E-ZPass to good use. AAA says there’s been a sharp decrease in the use of E-ZPass and an increase in the use of cash during Thanksgiving travel.

According to AAA, the two busiest New York City bridges on Thanksgiving are the RFK Triboro Bridge and the Throgs Neck Bridge.

In 2014, peak hour Thanksgiving traffic for drivers heading north through the Bronx was at 11 a.m. while noon was the peak hour for those traveling south through Queens, AAA says.

Traveling by Long Island Rail Road

The MTA says it will operate on special schedules from Wednesday through Sunday to accommodate the demands of travelers on Thanksgiving weekend.

• Wednesday: Twelve extra afternoon eastbound trains will handle the rush of customers heading home early for the holiday weekend.
• Thursday: There will be six extra westbound trains and 11 extra eastbound trains to accommodate Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade travel.
• Friday: The LIRR will run a regular weekday schedule with tickets at off-peak fares.
• Saturday and Sunday: The LIRR will have an additional four morning westbound trains and six afternoon eastbound trains to meet the holiday season demand, which will continue for the next six weekends.

Traveling by Plane

John F. Kennedy International Airport is expected to be one of the five busiest airports for Thanksgiving travel. The other busiest airports will be Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, Los Angeles International Airport, Chicago O’Hare International Airport and Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport.

So if you're waiting for a last-minute deal to open up, try to avoid those busy hubs if you can; they also have some of the highest cancellation rates for flights.

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