A question that many have about the solar eclipse travel is the traffic. Considerations include but are not limited to when the traffic will get bad, how much traffic there will be, what affects the traffic, whether you should wait until later, and more.

How Bad Will Traffic Be?

In all honesty, there is NO magic predictor of how bad traffic will be. You can hope for traffic that moves and clears out quickly and easily.

When will traffic be the worse?

The worst of the traffic will be after the eclipse ends and the day of the eclipse. This is because people have time to get down to their spots early, so everyone who will go down to their spot day of will all be going at once and everyone will leave at once.

How Much Time Should I Budget?

When heading home, give yourself a multiple of 3-4x. This can be seen when a normally 45 minute drive in 2017 between Salem and Portland, Oregon took several hours to get down to the eclipse site. Therefore, people who left 3 hours to get down did NOT see totality.

Moreover, people who drove home said a normal 3-4hour drive took like 8-12 hours. This isnt the exception, but rather the norm.

What affects travel times?

Travel will be affected by factors such as but not limited to the number of people leaving, construction, the road infrastructure in the area (road type such as highways vs local roads), conservation, how many lanes the roads are, and accidents.

Is X Enough Time To Get Home or To The Airport?

Give yourself more than enough time and flexibility that if things get bad, that you don’t miss a flight. This can include planning to not fly back on eclipse day, taking the next day off, and returning home on the day after. The last thing you want to do is risk it for a few extra seconds of totality and miss the opportunity to return home. Because missing a flight will be expensive and if you can’t get home for work, that isn’t going to be an ideal opportunity.

Now you know a bit more of how to handle the traffic related to the day of the solar eclipse. Let us know in the comments if there’s anything we missed or would like to add! Make sure to check out our other 2024 solar eclipse resources and other articles! We’re on social media as well, so give us a like and follow there!