With Atlanta airport security wait times stretching to 4 or more hours, here’s what alternate travel plans could look like

ATLANTA — The TSA staffing state of affairs in Atlanta you have returned to the point the place folks at the moment are being inspired to arrive at least four hours early for flightsand at some factors in the course of the morning peak it seems individuals are ready even longer than that.

By the time you bake in 4 hours of ready time plus a flight time, there’s more than just a few regional journeys from Atlanta the place flying would now (to say nothing of being more costly) take longer than merely driving or hopping on a practice or bus.

11Alive’s Grace King on Monday morning ran the numbers on just a few locations the place it is change into notably arduous to justify a flight:

It’s solely a 90-minute flight to Charlotte, however when you add within the four-hour security wait (which does not even account for issues like getting to the airport, parking when you want to do this, ready to your luggage on the vacation spot airport, and so forth) it makes lots more sense proper now to drive, take a bus journey or hop on Amtrak.

Other cities on this vary: Nashville, Memphis, Savannah, Jackson, MS, Mobile, AL, Tallahassee, Charleston

People typically overlook how far inland Atlanta really is of the coast, to the purpose the place cities like Detroit, Indianapolis and Columbus, Ohio fall alongside a typically northward path from ATL. But the closest to being nearly due north is Cincinnati, which clocks in at simply shy of a 7-hour drive. By the time you add in related travel times for getting to the airport, parking and so forth. it is getting fairly shut to neck-and-neck proper now whether or not driving or flying would get you door-to-door to Cincinnati sooner.

Other cities on this vary: Indianapolis, Tampa, New Orleans, St. Louis, Louisville, Little Rock, Richmond

Atlanta is serviced through Amtrak alongside the crescent route. While the travel times are significantly longer for essentially the most half than a flight, the significantly much less problem concerned could begin to make it look like a more engaging alternate travel mode than normal.

Here are the cities alongside the Crescent route:

Gainesville, Toccoa (Georgia); Clemson, Greenville, Spartanburg (South Carolina); Gastonia, Charlotte, Salisbury, High Point, Greensboro (North Carolina); Danville, Lynchburg, Charlottesville, Culpeper, Manassas, Alexandria (Virginia), Washington, DC; Baltimore, MD; Wilmington, DE; Philadelphia, PA; Trenton, Newark (New Jersey); New York City.

Anniston, Birmingham, Tuscaloosa (Alabama); Meridian, Laurel, Hattiesburg, Picayune (Mississippi); Slidell, New Orleans (Louisiana).