“I was expecting stress,” Kristen Olsen said as she awaited her train at Union Station on Tuesday.
Olsen was traveling through Connecticut on her way to Washington D.C. She said so far, the trip had been easy despite it being just two days before Thanksgiving.
“I was expecting it to be stressful because it’s right before Thanksgiving,” said Luis Crouch, who sat to Olsen’s right.
Stress is a normal expectation when it comes to travel this time of year, no matter how you’re getting from point A to point B.
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Greenwich’s Elliot Savitz took a train, plane and automobile to get from Colorado to Connecticut for the holiday. He also said so far, the trip hasn’t been too bad.
Over the next several days, AAA is projecting roughly 55.4 million people will travel for Thanksgiving. That’s the third highest total since they started keeping track in 2000.
“The biggest travel times on Wednesday will be between 2 p.m. and 6 p.m., so if you can head out early or late, that would be ideal,” AAA spokesperson Tracy Noble said.
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Throughout New England, Noble said roughly 2.5 million people will be on the move, 85% of which by car.
“I’ve been living between Connecticut and Massachusetts for my whole life, so I know how to avoid the traffic at this point,” said Aidan Michaud, who was bringing his college football teammate from New Hampshire to Bridgeport on Tuesday.
“It’s really timing man, I mean you gotta get lucky, too,” Michaud said.
No matter when you leave though, dodging road traffic is never a guarantee, unless you take the train.
Amtrak said this is also their busiest week for ridership, which has surpassed pandemic levels.
“The busiest travel days are the Wednesday before the holiday, tomorrow, as well as the Sunday following the Thursday, so get to the stations early, 45 minutes to 60 minutes is the recommended time,” Amtrak spokesperson Jason Abrams said.
