Pandemic Traffic

I have noticed a few things about traffic during the past six months or so – which coincides with the massive expansion of remote working associated with our attempt to ward off the coronavirus. First, traffic in the suburbs is pretty similar to what it was before the pandemic. I’m not in the suburbs as often as when I lived there (obviously), but when I drive to shopping areas, etc. in suburban areas, there is considerable traffic and relatively full parking lots.

Second, when driving to Maine last month, there was much less automobile traffic than normal. The number of trucks appeared roughly the same as in years past. But the number of passenger cars was way down and was especially noticeable at service areas, which usually teem with travelers, but this year didn’t.[1] 

Third, in downtown Columbus, there is essentially no traffic. It has been over six months since I have had to wait for a second light cycle to get through an intersection. In at least 75% of my encounters with traffic lights downtown, I am the only car in my lane of traffic. Metered parking spaces that used to get extensive use sit empty at prime times. Returning from lunch last week around 1:00 pm, the ten spaces on Marconi Drive (right next to the Supreme Court of Ohio) were all empty. Pre-pandemic, it was unusual for even one of those spaces to be available mid-day.

Most striking of all is the parking lot across the river from downtown. Pre-pandemic, the lot was full every single weekday – with over 250 people parking there and walking across the river to work. Since the onset of “work from home,” I have not seen more than 15 cars in the lot.

This general lack of traffic has caused me to reconsider an old idea: increasing pedestrian and cycling access to streets. On Sundays during warm weather months, Memorial Drive in Cambridge, MA, which is a major thoroughfare otherwise, is closed to traffic. It is a great opportunity for skate boarders, bladers, cyclists, runners, parents with young children in strollers or on tricycles, and anyone else who wants to roam along the north side of the Charles River without worrying about motor vehicles.

Why not introduce some of that to Columbus and other cities? We could start with Capital Square on Sundays. No cars, just people. Driving around the closed off area would barely inconvenience drivers because there is so little traffic on Sundays.

Given the lack of traffic on weekdays and the possibility that it may never fully return (because, let’s face it, people enjoy working from home), it might even be possible to convert some streets permanently. Right outside my front door are two four-lane streets, which go one way (in opposite directions). What if we changed one street to two-way traffic and the other to no traffic? In the short term, it would not affect traffic because there is none. In the long term it might lead to out-of-control backups.  If so, we could re-convert. There is no way to know whether it would be embraced by non-drivers (it would), but why not try and see what happens.

I encountered an out-of-control traffic backup the other night when returning to Columbus from Cincinnati.  Miles of it. According to googlemaps, the last ten miles of the trip home were going to take over 80 minutes. So – I started driving in the left travel lane with a few other cars.

It was wide open because three lanes were merging into the two rightmost lanes. We were making good progress, passing dozens of immobile cars. When someone in the center lane moved over half a lane to block us, we drove around. Then we drove by dozens more unmoving vehicles. This time an unofficial traffic warden decided to sit in the middle of the left lane. That stymied us until one intrepid soul decided to use the shoulder to get around him. I followed even though the warden swerved in an attempt to cow me into submission.

After getting past him, there was at least a half mile of open road in the left lane. That enabled me to learn that the two right lanes were moving slowly but with lots of space between cars. There was no reason for the traffic to be as backed up as it was. But for the wardens, there would have been more cars in the left lane and shorter wait times for everybody. This last part is not made up.

I’m not a traffic engineer (or whatever the folks who monitor and study traffic are called) but I did read the book Traffic[2]about ten years ago.[3] What the book and other subsequent studies conclude is that drivers should stay in the lane that is disappearing – for the common good (not to mention their own). Ignoring the lane causes worse traffic. The warden who attempted to divert me was doing himself, other drivers, and almost my front bumper a disservice. As it turns out, I made it home in about 30 minutes after getting off the highway and taking an alternate route.

Traffic is quite good. The first 75 pages or so were a bit technical, but once the author started addressing roundabouts (rotaries) and traffic calming techniques, I was rather riveted. Traffic is a regular part of our lives, I enjoy dealing with less, hope it stays that way, and would love to see our cities experiment with ways to better utilize streets that currently are in oversupply based on current traffic conditions.

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[1] A small ancillary benefit of wearing masks becomes quite obvious when traveling – high-use public restrooms are easier on the nose.

[2] Traffic – Why We Drive the Way We Do (and What It Says About Us) by Tom Vanderbilt.

[3] My books-read list indicates that I read the book 12 years ago, in October of 2008. Reading that book gave me much more knowledge about traffic than staying at a Holiday Inn Express would.