Every driver crawling through the city’s streets and highways knows traffic jams are back.
But traffic is not.
About 30% fewer cars are roaming the city’s streets and highways than before the city locked down in mid-March, according to data compiled by TomTom, a Netherlands-based software company. TomTom’s crowd-sourced data is consistent with Port Authority statistics showing a 31% decline in cars entering the city via bridges and tunnels during the past seven months.
The persistent decline in traffic could help explain why the Covid-19 pandemic remains contained in the city, apart from isolated outbreaks in parts of Brooklyn and Queens. TomTom data show traffic in London, Berlin and Milan returned to pre-pandemic levels during the summer. Those places now are facing renewed restrictions on travel and socializing to contain outbreaks.
“Crowd-sourced traffic data is proving effective in determining when Western cities have opened up ‘too much,’” DataTrek Research co-founder Nicholas Colas said in a report today, citing the TomTom data. “How much population mobility is even advisable in Western countries right now?”
In the spring, parking garage owners said they expected a surge in business as commuters shunned trains. Although subway ridership has fallen by two-thirds, it doesn’t appear many people are driving to work. One indicator: Shares in Standard Parking’s owner, SP Plus, have fallen by 60% since lockdowns began and haven’t budged since mid-March.
A CBRE report last month showed only 10% of Manhattan office workers were back. Nor is anyone driving into the city to see a show or a ballgame.
Less gridlock means many fewer collisions. Motor-vehicle accidents have fallen by nearly half this year, according to Police Department data.
Even as car traffic remains depressed, though, truck traffic has recovered. Port Authority data showed more trucks entered the city in July than in the same month a year ago, while in August there was a 2.5% decline. Trucking officials attribute the recovery to businesses restocking depleted inventories and consumers ordering more stuff online.
The surge in road-hogging trucks might explain why the city’s roads can seem as congested as they ever were.
“This doesn’t mean the Van Wyck isn’t jammed at 11 p.m.,” Colas said. “It is, as we can attest to.”
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October 27, 2020 at 12:40AM
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Car traffic in New York City remains 30% below pre-pandemic levels - Crain's New York Business
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