San Diegans planning an extended getaway over the upcoming Fourth of July holiday should be warned: More people than ever will be hitting the roads and booking flights, meaning packed beaches, congested highways and long lines at the airport.
The Automobile Club of Southern California predicts that not only will total travel numbers be more than 5 percent higher than last year, but trip volume will be 6 percent higher than travel in 2019. In total, a record 5.4 million Southern Californians will leave home for the holidays, with the majority of them traveling by car. Nationwide, travelers are expected to be about 71 million, up from 67.4 million last year and 65.2 million in 2019.
“This year's Fourth of July continues the trend that began on Memorial Day of new record levels of travel,” said Jenna Miller, vice president of travel products and services for the Auto Club. “Air travel saw the biggest increase over the holiday, which is expected to be 13 percent higher than last year due to slightly lower domestic airfares.”
In previous years, the Fourth of July holiday period has typically been five days, but the Auto Club changed its methodology this year, stretching it to nine days, sandwiched between two weekends around the Fourth, which this year falls on a Thursday. To make a fair comparison to past years, the club's data research partner, DK Shifflett, adjusted its previous projections to reflect a similar nine-day period, spokeswoman Marie Montgomery said.
“We conducted this study and went back and included similar time periods for other years,” Montgomery said. “We have access to hotel stays, flights and all travel information going back through each year.”
Avoiding road congestion
Because the Fourth of July holiday stretches over nine days, road congestion may not be as bad as a typical three-day holiday weekend. (Ana Ramirez / San Diego Union-Tribune)
The good news is that the upcoming holiday will be spread out over nine days as opposed to the usual three-day weekend, so traffic should be lighter, according to the Auto Club.
According to the Auto Club, the busiest travel times for holiday travelers in Southern California are likely to be the afternoon and evening of July 3, 4 and 5, while traffic congestion heading home south on Interstate 5 is expected to be heaviest on the afternoon of July 8.
INRIX, which provides traffic data analytics to the Auto Club, expects drives over the holiday weekend to be up to 67% longer than usual and advises drivers to monitor 511 services, local news stations and traffic apps to stay updated on road conditions.
INRIX calculated sample routes in various metropolitan areas and estimated how long it would take to reach certain destinations during peak travel times. For San Diego County, it estimates that traveling to Palm Springs via Interstate 15 at 6 p.m. on Independence Day would take 2 hours and 55 minutes, about 16 percent longer than on a normal day.
Gas prices in Southern California have fallen for two straight months, and while the decline may be tapering off, they're still slightly lower than the same time a year ago, so driving costs are likely to be lower than they were a year ago. The current price for regular gasoline in San Diego is $4.815 a gallon, down slightly from $4.905 a year ago.
What to expect at San Diego Airport
The number of people flying over the Fourth of July holiday is expected to be at a record high. (Nelvin C. Cepeda/The San Diego Union-Tribune)
Airport officials are seeing similar trends as the Auto Club, and are anticipating more passengers flying this summer than at any time since 2019. Airport spokeswoman Nicole Hall said they expect between 750,000 and 780,000 passengers to take off and land at the airport over the 10 days starting Friday, June 28.
The Auto Club is predicting slightly lower numbers for the nine-day period, calculating that the total number of air travelers over the holiday will be up 13% compared with the same period in 2019. The busiest travel days are expected to be Sunday, June 30 and Sunday, July 7, Hall said.
“With the Independence Day holiday approaching and construction work in full swing on the new Terminal 1, the airport urges travelers and those transporting passengers to plan ahead,” Hall advised.
Hall said the busiest times for on-street parking are from 4am to 6:15am, 9:30am to 12:30pm and 8pm to 12am.
The airport said people looking to park are wise to reserve the Terminal 2 Parking Plaza or consider using the San Diego Flyer, a free shuttle bus service that provides daily service between the Old Town Transit Station and the airport.
Theme Park Advice
SeaWorld San Diego coaster (Courtesy of SeaWorld)
The popular San Diego destination is set to be especially popular with kids out of school, and in anticipation of large crowds hoping to watch the Fourth of July fireworks at SeaWorld, the theme park has expanded seating options, including upgrading some stadiums to reserved seating for a better view of the light show.
SeaWorld spokeswoman Tracy Spar said people planning to visit the park are encouraged to check the schedule in advance, as all shows and presentations begin 30 minutes before their scheduled start time.
The Auto Club noted that while most Southern California residents will travel to the region's most popular road trip destinations, such as San Diego, Las Vegas and the Central Coast, the top domestic destinations for air travelers are likely to be Las Vegas, as well as Oahu, Orlando, Seattle and Portland, Oregon.
“Air travel saw the largest increase this year, in part due to domestic airfares coming down a bit,” Montgomery said. “Travel by bus, train and cruise has increased in price every year but has not yet returned to 2019 levels.”
