The UK’s busiest motorway service areas (MSAs) for Easter have been revealed, as one million people a day are set to refuel and recharge over the long weekend.

Cobham saw the highest total Easter footfall in 2024. Credit: I-Media

I-Media, which uses ANPR data to interpret MSA audiences for out-of-home advertising, has predicted five million motorway service visits over the long weekend, equivalent to one million people per day.

Last year, getaway traffic rose 28% on the Thursday before Easter and peaked at midday on Good Friday, when there were 60,000 cars per hour entering an MSA. The quietest period was at 2pm Easter Sunday, before traffic volumes rose again as people returned home on the last day of the weekend, reaching 62,000 per hour at 11am on Easter Monday, the busiest point of the whole weekend.

Service areas that saw the greatest uptick in traffic last year were Membury, Maidstone and Taunton Deane South, which experienced rises of 64%, 57% and 56% respectively as families headed for outdoor spots in the Cotswolds, South Coast and Dartmoor. Cobham welcomed the most visitors overall.

To avoid the rush, drivers are advised to plan their journeys around the peak times of 11.00 – 13.00, with early morning and mid-afternoon the quietest daylight hours to pull over.

Busiest MSAs from Easter 2024: Thursday 28 March

I-Media operates the media network across motorway service areas in the UK. Its technology monitors visits to MSAs, using customer and vehicle data to tailor advertising content to the passengers who are using each MSA in real-time.

Sam Tester, sales director, commented: “Visits to motorway service areas have increased nearly 5% over the last two years. More people are travelling within the UK during the big leisure moments of the year, which means the role MSAs play in helping people rest and recharge has never been more important.

“I-Media provides a live indication of who is visiting motorway service areas at any given time, which helps advertisers and brands focus their message on precisely the right audience. The degree of accuracy is the next step in out-of-home advertising, and the nation’s MSAs are an exciting proof of concept to the industry.”