WASHINGTON — More than 165 million Americans have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. That has many people feeling comfortable enough to travel.
Memorial Day weekend is expected to bring travel number we have not seen in more than a year because of the pandemic.
Baltimore Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport continues to be the busiest of all the airports in our area. According to airport officials, on May 20, TSA officers screened more than 25,000 passengers at BWI Marshall. That is a single-day record for the airport in more than a year. Travel at the airport is up about 700% compared to this time last year, and only down 38% from the same period in 2019. Officials say this is a trend that they expect will continue to grow during the summer months.
On the roads, traffic will be up to about 89% of pre-pandemic levels, according to AAA. The empty roads we have gotten used to during the pandemic will not be there this weekend.
"About 900,000 people will be driving to their destination in the Washington Metro area. When you talk about all of Virginia, all of Maryland and the metro area, you're talking about 2.6 million people. You can expect all of the major freeways to become stalled as people see bumper-to-bumper traffic," said John Townsend, a spokesperson for AAA.
Experts say the best time to travel is Friday before 10 a.m. and after 10 p.m. The busiest times will be during rush hour from 3:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. on the I-95 corridor and the Bay Bridge. The same times apply for return travel on Monday.
If you do plan to fly this Memorial Day, the federal mask mandate is still in place, so you will need to wear a mask inside any airport and on any commercial plane.