Commuter life after coronavirus: More cars, but less traffic
The highways are empty. Commuters are staying home. Auto sales have plummeted.
Cars have become much less numerous on many Connecticut commuter highways and parkways, as the coronavirus pandemic continues. Volume was down by 50 percent on I-95 on a recent Friday in April, as compared to last year, according to the state Department of Transportation.
Following the biggest shock to private-automobile use since the gasoline shortages of the 1970s, transportation experts are wondering what impacts the coronavirus disruption will have on commuting and automobile use once normalcy returns.
It’s too soon to say whether reliance on privately owned cars to get around — the bedrock of suburban life — will be impacted, and changes to commuter routines could play out in a number of ways. Advocates for alternative transportation say the coronavirus outbreak may lead to long-term anxieties about public transportation in particular, and private auto ownership may even get a boost from the coronavirus pandemic in the not-toodistant future.
“Given that pathogens spread in close quarters, it’s conceivable that commuters might be less inclined to travel en masse in the future,” said one transportation analyst, Laura Bliss, author of
“The Future of Transportation.”
The car culture has always been deeply embedded in suburbs, and it’s likely to get renewed interest in cities as well, as the pandemic continues.
“People who are trying to avoid public transit are likely to turn to other modes, and in this country, and especially in suburban areas, the obvious choice is a car,” said Joe Cutrufo, communications director at Transportation Alternatives, a nonprofit that advocate for biking, pedestrian access and public transit in the metropolitan region. “I’m seeing a lot of people who are saying, ‘I’m thinking about getting a car.’ They’re not sure about the subways.”
Still, the pandemic has been pushing a shift toward telecommuting, a business model that may outlast the pandemic, said Cutrufo, who worked on Connecticut transportation issues with the the Tri-State Transportation Campaign.
“A lot of companies might have thought about switching to a remote situation. They could save on office rent — smaller companies especially — we’ll see them do that, they’re getting rid of the office, they’re going 100 percent remote, given the technology we have now, that’s certainly a possibility,” said Cutrufo.
“I think we were headed in that direction anyway. Over the last decade, we’ve seen a lot of companies switch to temporary office space or telecommuting. We have the technology to do that.”
The pandemic might also make city and state leaders think about traffic patterns within their communities, as well as arteries like Route 1. Older cities in particular, Cutrufo said, could benefit from looking at alternative transportation upgrades, featuring bikes and pedestrian access. “Hopefully, it will open some eyes,” he said, “New Haven is not a bad city for biking; Stamford is a different story.”
Overall, transportation experts say there could be new opportunities once the pandemic has passed to look at the world of buses, trains, and automobiles in a new light.
“Things are going to get shaken up in ways we can’t predict,” said Cutrufo. “I think we’ll see fewer people on public transit, more people behind the wheel, even with increases in telecommuting. But we need to work to make sure we’re back at the same level of gridlock we’ve seen. When we talk about going back to normal, wouldn’t it be nice to keep some of the silver linings that have come with the pandemic, like better air quality and less congestion? This has been, hopefully, a once in a lifetime opportunity to reenvision how we get around, and how we think about transportation through a wider lens.”
rmarchant@greenwich time.com