School speed limits in effect when building ’s open

Q: With the various closures for COVID-19 precautions, are school zone speed limits in effect when no students are allowed in the building on a given day? I drive daily through two school zones on Western Avenue and it seems prudent to go 20 miles per hour without any clarification from authorities, though most people tend to drive through those areas at 30 miles per hour (and offer “hand gestures” to encourage me to speed up).

—Jerrod Hugenot If the school building is open for business, then school zone speed limits are valid regardless of whether in-person learning is occurring, according to Lt. Robert Donnelly of the Colonie Police Department, traffic safety division.

He encourages drivers to observe school zone limits any time they drive through, but the limits are not in effect on weekends, during the summer or outside of school hours.

School hours are set as 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. in the state Vehicle and Traffic Law, unless specific hours are posted on the sign.

If the signs have beacons, the limit is in effect whenever the beacons are flashing.

Airline performance: The U.S. Department of Transportation released performance statistics for 2020. It found that carriers posted an on-time arrival rate of 84.5 percent, up from 79.0 percent in 2019. Hawaiian Airlines Network had the highest on-time arrival rate of 87.5 percent, followed by Delta Air Lines at 87.2 percent and Spirit Airlines at 86.6 percent.

Allegiant Air had the lowest on-time arrival rate at 71.3 percent, along with Jetblue (82.1 percent) and American Airlines (82.3 percent). Post-lockdown transportation:

An analysis of 2020 Apple data by Bumper showed that New York state saw a 3 percent reduction in driving after lockdown. New York also saw one of the biggest decreases in public transportation use — 60 percent — and walking — 43 percent.

New York City was not one of the top-10 cities that saw the biggest decrease in public transit use, although it did see a 43 percent decrease in walking, behind New Orleans (66 percent) and Honolulu (60 percent).

States that saw the most reduction in driving were Hawaii (47 percent decrease), California and Florida (15 percent each) and Arizona (13 percent).

Wyoming, on the other hand, saw a 78 percent increase in driving. Montana saw a 66 percent increase and South Dakota saw a 64 percent increase.

CDTA: Starting Monday, the Capital District Transportation Authority will offer digital access to the Times Union on the Red and Blue Bus Rapid Transit lines. Passengers can use the onboard Wi-fi to access the digital product.

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CDTA also announced that it will be installing a commercial-grade air purification system on its buses in a phased approach over the next several weeks.