Friday night traffic - Basking Ridge to EWR or JFK
 

Hi,

I plan to leave Basking Ridge ( NJ) at 16.10 on a Friday night and am checking flight options either out of Newark or JFK.

EWR preference as means I will have more time on subsequent transits, but flight is 18.45 so guessing would need to be there by 17.15 latest!! Will be driven there.

alternatively have flights from JFK around 20.00.

apps tell me 44k and 30 mins to EWR, 82k 75 mins JFK.... but not allowing for Friday traffic!

appreciate any feedback

cheers

It seems like a pretty easy decision. Google maps estimates that, at 4pm on a Friday, it will take 30 to 45 minutes to EWR and 1:40 to 2:30 to travel to JFK.

Is this during the summer?

There is traffic every day in the NY Metro area.

Summer Friday afternoons heading east from Queens, or South in NJ can be worse then normal. From May to Sept.

However, from Basking Ridge to EWR even then I wouldn't say that traffic will be noticeably worse on a Friday versus a Tuesday.

thanks - this will be in 2 weeks time. If leave fri at 4.15 then 5 pm for a 6.40pm should be fine.

route into JFK can be hit or miss, and last time was 2.30 for me

Any opinions which has faster transit times, Long Island Expressway or the Northern State Parkway when heading east from JFK in the evenings?

whichever route Waze directs you to in the moment.

I was in Basking Ridge weekly for most of 2018. I would allow 2 hours to get to EWR, return my rental, go through Airport security via Pre Check and get to my gate.

OP says they are being driven to the airport so can cut out any car drop time from their calculation.


whilst the later JFK flight may be attractive in terms of it is 1hr 15 mins later then the EWR departure it also takes 45 mins longer to get there so eating into that 1hr 15 mins.

OP also says the EWR flight has longer transits later on so the time of arrival at the ultimate destination also needs to be co spidered.

if the later JFK flight (despite the additional time and risks of getting there) results in getting to the destination much quicker then that might prove the better option.

OP needs to consider the trip in toto not just one part of it.

One would have to be incredibly fortunate for the trip to JFK to be only 45 minutes longer on a Friday afternoon. It could easily be double that.

i was going on what the OP wrote re the times in their post.

but a more accurate / realistic timing could very well change the choice of airport and flights

100% EWR. You have *more* than enough time to make your flight (most likely need to check in by 17.45 not 17.15 but depends on carrier, class, etc.) Given that you say onward connections preferable from EWR and it is a significantly less miserable travel experience, that is the obvious move.