Holiday week travelers say road and airport traffic

BALTIMORE — Nearly 1.5 million Marylanders were projected to travel for the nine days surrounding the Independence Day holiday.

For the first time, AAA has expanded its forecast to include all of the Fourth of July week plus the Saturday before and Sunday after the holiday.

“We are seeing record numbers since the pandemic,” said Christopher Murgia, TSA’s Federal Security Director for Maryland. “We’ve seen three of the busiest days that have made the top 10 of TSA history for the 22 years we have been in existence, so it is a very extremely busy time period for us.”

TSA officials at BWI said there is still a big demand for air travel.

Traveler Michael Jones told WJZ that flying played an important role in his summer plans.

“Just being able to fly to different airports, so BWI,  I flew out of Philly for another one, flew out of RDU (Raleigh-Durham),” Jones said.

Travelers said lines at BWI Airport were busy on Sunday, but nothing out of the ordinary.

“I feel like it’s been fine, nothing really out of the ordinary for me, hasn’t been too stressful, luckily,” traveler Jason Huang said. 

“Haven’t really seen a lot of long lines or anything like that,” traveler Morgan Dodd said.

The congestion and traffic on the roads has been a different story for travelers.

James and his family made a stop at a gas station in Maryland along I-695 while traveling from Philadelphia to Richmond, VA. 

“The roads were a little more backed up than it normally is on a Sunday, but it was still moving,” said Kareem James, who was driving from Philadelphia to Richmond, Virginia. 

Nearly 90%, or 1.3 million people, were predicted to travel by car this summer holiday season, which is up nearly 4% from last year, and more than 8% higher than 2019, according to AAA. 

Transportation experts encourage drivers to hit the road early to avoid mixing with commuters. 

Travelers going back home on Sunday or Monday should avoid the afternoon hours when return trips will peak.