This picture of hellish LA traffic shows why we need a transportation revolution

NBCLA via Twitter

• 54 million Americans are expected to hit the road this week for Thanksgiving travel. 
• In Los Angeles, a terrifying time-lapse shows how bad the traffic already is on the city's notorious freeways.
• Elon Musk's Boring Company can't open its tunnels soon enough - but it remains to be seen how effective they'll be at mitigating congestion. 

More than 24 hours before the Thanksgiving holidays, Los Angeles freeways are already packed to the brim with motorists.

A photo tweeted by NBCLA shows just how welcomes anything to reduce traffic congestion on highways would be.

Of course, Los Angeles is notorious for its traffic on a normal workday, and thanksgiving travelers are only making the situation work.

There could be hope, though. The first tunnel by Elon Musk's Boring Company is set to open December 10 in Hawthorne, California, the billionaire tweeted last week. If his plan to reduce congestion via underground pods along the same right-of-way as freeways works out, the thousands stuck in crawling traffic this Thanksgiving would be sure to welcome the innovation.

Weather could make things worse, too. David Roth, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, told Reuters that there is a substantial chance of heavy rain across California on Thursday.

Read more: Elon Musk's Boring Company is opening a 'brick store' - here's a first look

Critics have pointed out that Musk's plan to ease traffic congestion won't work as well as public transit, especially since the plan is limited to 16-person pods (subway cars, for example, can carry upwards of 100 passengers in a single vehicle, and a single bus can carry dozens).  What's more, the historical cost that has historically plagued would-be subway or tunnel builders is still as astronomical. Still, any car not on a highway is welcome news for traffic jams.

Until then, you're better off leaving bright and early tomorrow morning for holiday travel - if you haven't already. According to data from Google, 4 am is your best bet to beat the Los Angeles traffic. Here's how congestion peaks over the course of the holiday:

Google Trends

Given up on driving? Business Insider has rounded up some of the best Black Friday holiday flight deals here.