Key takeaways

• School-related trips add a significant surge of vehicles to the morning peak, increasing queueing and travel times on common commute corridors.
• Pick-up/drop-off activity near campuses, frequent school-bus stops, and lower school-zone speed limits all reduce roadway throughput.
• The effect is most noticeable during the first few weeks after schools reopen each fall, and again after long breaks.

Why traffic gets worse when school starts

• More peak-hour trips: Families add school drop-offs to the commute, concentrating extra vehicle demand between roughly 7:00–9:00 a.m.
• School buses and stops: Buses make frequent stops, which briefly interrupt flow and create localized platoons of vehicles.
• Lower speeds in school zones: Posted reductions during arrival/dismissal hours (plus crossing-guard control) intentionally slow traffic for safety.
• New/young drivers: At the start of the year, more teen drivers return to the network, often during the same peak window.

How much worse is it?

Traffic is only part of the story: safety matters too

What drivers, schools, and employers can do

For everyday drivers

• Build 10–15 minutes of buffer into morning departures for the first few weeks of school.
• Use live navigation to avoid active school-zone bottlenecks where possible.
• Slow down and be ready to stop near schools and at bus stops; never pass a stopped school bus loading/unloading students.

For schools & property managers

• Designate clearly signed, one-way drop-off loops with staff/volunteer marshals during peak minutes.
• Deploy highly visible cones, delineators, and temporary signage to guide queues, protect crosswalks, and prevent unsafe U-turns.
• Stagger bell times by grade level to spread demand and reduce curbside backups.

For employers

• Offer flexible or shifted start times for the first weeks of the school year to ease the a.m. peak.
• Encourage remote work or hybrid days on the heaviest back-to-school dates.

Seasonal patterns to expect

• Late August through September: The sharpest morning slowdowns as schools reopen.
• After long breaks: Smaller “mini-spikes” in congestion often appear after winter and spring vacations.
• Afternoons: Pick-up times concentrate traffic again (typically 2:30–4:30 p.m.), especially on collectors near schools.

How Traffic Safety Store can help