Thanksgiving 2017 News: Google Releases Guide on Worst Times for Traffic During the Holiday
As people in the United States prepare to celebrate Thanksgiving Day on Thursday, Google Maps released a guide of when was the best and worst times to travel during the holiday.
The guide, according to Google, was based on previous insights and Google Map searches that allowed them to analyze when the traffic was at "worst than normal" conditions on Thanksgiving in several key cities in the United States.
The said Google Maps graph also showed the traffic density from Wednesday until the end of the week. Generally, Google found that the worst traffic in several cities happened on the night before Thanksgiving.
The cities included in the Google Maps Thanksgiving traffic graph are Cleveland, Philadelphia, Detroit, St. Louis, Raleigh, Washington D.C., Pittsburgh, Phoenix, Sacramento, Charlotte, Chicago, New York, Minneapolis, Houston, Orland, Boston, Denver, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Miami, San Francisco, Tampa, Seattle, Portland, and Dallas.
In all the cities mentioned, Google Maps suggested that traffic starts to build from Wednesday morning. Their previous insights showed another traffic build-up by 12 p.m. on the same day and in the following hours in the afternoon.
However, the peak of the worst traffic situations occurred by midnight leading to Thursday or Thanksgiving.
By noon of Thursday, the graph showed a slight change in the normal traffic in Philadelphia, Sacramento, Boston, San Francisco, Seattle, and New York, especially after the annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade.
Traffic will start to get worse on the evening of Thanksgiving Day due to the start of Black Friday sales in retail stores. Most chains open around 5 p.m. or 6 p.m. and close at midnight or 1 a.m. of Friday.
The unusually heavy traffic is also expected in the said cities by the morning of Black Friday since major stores re-open around 8 a.m. or 9 a.m. to continue with the sale.
Then, on Sunday, people traveling from the said cities can still expect heavier traffic flow but it will not be as hectic as Wednesday night's since the unusual road congestion will be spaced out the entire Sunday, especially in Pittsburgh, Sacramento, Philadelphia, Cleveland, St. Louis, and Atlanta.
