When traveling, I have found that traffic conditions can be trickier than just knowing how to avoid rush hour. Though many times this is always good advice, there is more to it than that. I have found that there are unexpected things that can really put a kink in your travel time if you have not done your homework. The problem is that this can be hard to do if you are taking a long road trip that stops in many different cities.
Rush hour is still the biggest consideration when thinking about traffic conditions, but even rush hour can be complicated. You can try to plan around traveling near any large city at this time, but some cities have different rush hour times than others. They are all within the same three hours, but three hours is a long time. You never know what the traffic conditions will be unless you know for sure when the worst rush hour traffic will occur. This is not just the afternoon traffic either, as the morning can be tricky as well. However, on average, the morning rush is not quite as bad as the afternoon. Be very wary of the Friday rush, as that tends to be the very worst.
Another thing to consider with traffic conditions are special events. You may run into traffic leaving or going into a concert or sporting event. There may also be special community events or other big gatherings that could put a dent in your travel time. These traffic conditions are often even worse for these than for rush hour. Many times the back ups are chaotic and there may be no end in sight. At least with rush hour everyone knows where they are going and not everyone is trying to drive into the same parking lot.
Some places just have bad traffic conditions all of the time. I was talking about driving through New Jersey with a friend, and I asked her about what to expect on the way to her house. She said that most of the time the traffic conditions in New Jersey were bad, and it really didn’t matter where or when you were going. When traveling to a place like New York City, Chicago, or Los Angeles it is wise to expect to find bad traffic situations. Make extra time to be sure you can get where you are going. Besides, you might get lucky and arrive early.
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