More than 10 million journeys scheduled in the three days before The Big Day
Drivers are planning 21m festive getaways in the days leading up to Christmas with 60% of these trips crammed into the last three days before The Big Day itself, according to a survey published by the RAC and INRIX.
The study centred on responses provided by more than 2000 drivers. Leisure traffic is set to rocket at the end of this week with an increase of a million vehicles on the roads between Thursday and Friday alone.
The period covering Friday 22 December through to Christmas Eve is expected to see the most leisure journeys by car though – an estimated 13.5m this year. It’s a 20% increase from the same period last year.
Christmas Eve getaways are scheduled to match ‘Frantic Friday’ trips at around the three million mark. Experts say Friday will be far busier as those heading off for festivities share the roads with commuters and parents collecting children from school.
Roads are expected to be busy on Christmas Day and Boxing Day with an average of 3.5 million trips expected.
Serious delays on the network are set to be lower than normal as the system will lack its normal mix of commercial, commuter and school traffic.
Data from transport analytics specialists, INRIX, indicates there are likely to be daily delays of around 40 minutes, between Friday and Sunday, on the western part of the clockwise section of the M25 clockwise.
It’s expected a significant queue, of up to an hour, will be along the M25 clockwise between the M23 for Gatwick and the M40 for Birmingham on the 23rd December.
Drivers heading anti-clockwise between junctions 17 to 12 on the same day should also prepare themselves for longer waits of around half an hour.
Further afield, the M1 north between Woburn to Daventry and the M6 south from Wigan to Stafford will be hit the hardest with delays in the run-up to the 25th.
Early afternoons: busiest time to travel
Across most major routes during the pre-Christmas weekend, the early afternoon will be the busiest time to travel, with both the RAC and INRIX urging drivers to avoid lunchtime journeys.
The best times to travel will be before 11am and after 6pm on both the 22nd and 23rd December, when it’s hoped drivers will be able to reach their loved ones with slightly fewer tailbacks.
‘Since Christmas falls on a Monday this year, there’s no need for drivers to use annual leave for getaway trips as they can travel over the weekend before,’ explains Alice Simpson, RAC Breakdown spokesperson.
‘For that very reason, our research suggests these days will be the busiest times to drive, so we urge people to set off as early as possible on Saturday and Sunday.’
‘Since festive trips to see friends and family are so important, drivers do everything they can to avoid their vehicles letting them down.’
‘We recommend using the ‘FORCES’ acronym to help remember the Fuel, Oil, Rubber, Coolant, Electrics and Screen wash checks you need to make before a long journey.’
‘This is especially important if your route involves a motorway or A-road, where most delays are expected this year.’
‘On average, drivers could see travel times up to 20% longer this holiday season, while travellers around Greater London could experience more than double typical drive times,’ says Bob Pishue, INRIX transportation analyst
‘Our recommendation is to avoid peak commuting hours and use traffic apps to minimise holiday travel traffic frustrations.’
