Use This Online Google Tool to Avoid Thanksgiving Traffic Jams

If you don't spend most of Thanksgiving Day cooking, you'll likely spend it driving. More than 54 million Americans will be traveling at least 50 miles away from their homes some time this week, according to AAA. This year, Google has teamed up with Polygraph to develop some tools to make the journey a little easier for the majority of holiday travelers getting to their destinations by car, Fast Company reports.

Using speed and location data from anonymous Android users, Google Maps and Google News Lab have determined the best times to hit the road on the way to and from Thanksgiving dinner. To anticipate traffic jams in your region, look at the Avoiding Traffic section and select one of the 25 cities from the drop-down menu. If you're from Los Angeles, you'll hit the most congestion on Wednesday at 4:00 p.m. on your way out of town, and on Friday at 4:00 p.m when you're driving home. Motorists from Pittsburgh should wait to leave until 5:00 a.m. the morning of Thanksgiving and 4:00 a.m. the morning after to skirt traffic. The tool also includes visualizations of how traffic levels in your city fluctuate throughout Thanksgiving and the surrounding days.

Google's "Mapping Thanksgiving" project features other tools that you can use to plan your holiday. One visualization shows when crowds at popular spots will peak (avoid the bakery at noon on Wednesday and the movie theater Black Friday night). You can also see what people are searching for in your state during Thanksgiving to get some inspiration for what to do after dinner (brewery, electronics store, and coffee shop are some common searches).

Still feeling stressed about driving during one of the busiest travel days of the year? Check out our tips for a stress-free trip.

[h/t Fast Company]