Keller @ Large: Boston Thanksgiving Traffic Worst On Tuesday

BOSTON (CBS) - If you're sitting in stalled traffic reading this, you already know what a new survey confirms – Tuesday, not Wednesday, has become the worst traffic day of the Thanksgiving holiday exodus.

Why Tuesday? It's hard to say exactly.

Check: Traffic Updates

We are a net departure city on Thanksgiving, with more people leaving than coming in, and a lot of us are students or folks with flexible work schedules who can get away a day early.

Then again, combined with anecdotal evidence that the big Boston exodus comes early on other holiday weekends as well, perhaps it shows we are simply the national capitol of the early slide from work.

This is not good news if you are stuck in a Tuesday traffic jam, but it does have its advantages.

Black Friday traffic in the Boston area tends to be less onerous than in other cities because so many people have cleared out of town. And for those of us staying put who have errands to run on Wednesday, the early exodus is a blessing.

In any case, traffic may be worse than ever around here, holiday or no, but being stuck in traffic just isn't as bad as it used to be.

Between built-in video players, iPods and iPads there are many more ways to keep the kids entertained; as long as you monitored their liquid consumption before and right after leaving the house, you're all set.

For mom and dad upfront, there are also many more ways to pass the time than we used to have. Plus, when gas is just two bucks a gallon, stall-and-crawl traffic is less of a financial setback.

So all in all, even if it's slow going out there, there's no reason to let it sour your mood.

Leave that up to some of the relatives awaiting you at the other end.

Listen to Jon's commentary: