50.4 F
New York
Friday, March 29, 2024

Following New Exec Order, Traffic Levels in NYC Drop to 35%

Related Articles

-Advertisement-

Must read

By: Arlene Rothkopf

Look at the bright side: traffic is better.

The latest information shows a shocking – but understandable — drop in the amount of rush-hour traffic in New York City due to pandemic fears.

TomTom, a firm that keeps track of data, has found that car congestion levels in New York City at 8 a.m. Monday were 17% — just a bit more than one-third less than comparable traffic congestion numbers one year ago, which were 52%.

From March 9 to March 13, auto congestion during the 8 a.m. rush dropped by 13.5% compared with the same week in 2019, TomTom reported. As for the 5 p.m. rush crush out of the city, the firm found congestion down just over 26% compared with the same week last year.

The reason for the drop is clear: Coronavirus, coupled action taken by both New York State Gov. Andrew Cuomo and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio. Their combined goal has been to spread New Yorkers apart to make contagion more difficult. The governor has announced executive orders recently that, among other things, outlaw groups of more than 50 and limit bars and restaurants to take-out and delivery services. In the city, De Blasio announced yesterday that all public schools in New York will be closed until April 23.

Nor is there any mystery about what the decrease in traffic really means.

“What it means is people are not going out,” David King, a transportation planner who teaches at Arizona State University, told Crain’s New York Business. “They’re not going to work, and you’re seeing broadband demand drop off.”

“It’s very significant,” Sam Schwartz, a former New York traffic commissioner, also told Crain’s. “It’s the kind of congestion levels you only see when you have a major holiday in effect and schools are closed and many people are off from work.”

The mayor told Rosanna Scotto and Lori Stokes during a segment on Fox5’s Good Day New York that while road restrictions are one of the emergency powers he has under the state of emergency, “there is no immediate plan to do that, Rosanna. We’re going to take this one day at a time, but I want to urge, you know, I see rumors all the time flying around. I need people to understand, yes, we’re in a crisis, but it’s really easy to get information. You can go to 3-1-1, you can go to the City website, nyc.gov/coronavirus. I’m giving briefings all the time and anyone who wants to not be, you know, caught up in the rumors and find out what’s really going on you can really get that information quickly. So, no, no plans for road restrictions at this point.”

balance of natureDonate

Latest article

- Advertisement -