AAA projects another busy holiday traveling for Delawareans.
AAA projects nearly 209,000 Delawareans will travel at least 50 miles or more over the Independence Day holiday which AAA measures as starting this past weekend through the coming weekend.
AAA’s Jana Tidwell says that many people traveling is not a surprise.
"Those numbers are really in line with what we saw last year, indicating that there is still the demand to travel,” said Tidwell. “Again it's always the busiest of the three summer holidays. It is a long-standing tradition for many families, schools out for the summer, a lot of people make their memories around the July 4th holiday."
Tidwell says as is usually the case, most travelers will be hitting the roads.
"88%, or about 184,000 Delawareans, will drive to their holiday destination. Again no surprise, especially with the proximity to the beaches," said Tidwell.
If you do drive, the best times to do so are generally in the morning prior to 10 or 11 am - with the exception of July 4th when the best time to travel is after 3 pm.
The worst times to hit the road are usually mid to late afternoon with three exceptions. On Wednesday July 1, noon to 9 pm is the worst time to travel. On Friday July 3, avoid noon until 7 pm. And on July 4 it’s 10 am to 2 pm.
Also, if you drive, gas prices are lower now than a few weeks ago. But they are still about 50 cents higher per gallon than last year.
Not everyone will drive to their destination. More than 7% of Delaware travelers or nearly 15,000 will fly for this year’s holiday, down slightly from 2025.
Travel by other modes of transportation is up 4.8% over last year with nearly 10,000 Delawareans or 4.6% of local travelers using trains, buses or cruises to their destinations.
