Transportation Statistics Show Uptick in Travel
The Bureau of Transportation Statistics has released new numbers on travel that shows the effect the coronovairus on transportation. The agency normally takes months to release statistics. But recently it has been releasing transit data daily, as the government and economists look for clues of an economic recovery. Numbers from last week shows an increase in air travel, subway ridership and border crossings. But we are still a long way from getting back to normal.
Air Travel
First let’s take a look at air travel for the week ending May 2, 2020. The number of commercial flights shows a slight increase from the previous week, but there are still 73% less flights when compared to same week last year. International flights have seen drastic cuts, 5% down from last week and 92% down from the year before.
The number of people screened at airports are more positive. People screened at airports saw a jump of 27% from the previous week. That is still a 94% decline from a year ago.
Subway & Metro Ridership
The number of people commuting in subways and metros in big cities has seen a huge decline. Many states are still in lockdown and non-essential businesses are closed. Those who do not have essential jobs and can still work, are doing so from home. Here’s a look at transportation systems in New York City, Washington and San Francisco.
Ridership has been up in the latest week. 20% up in NYC when compared to one week earlier, 9% up in Washington and 8% up in San Francisco. Compared to a year ago though, ridership in San Francisco is 94% down, 90% down in NYC and 85% down in Washington.
Canada Border Crossings
Travel across the US-Canada land borders has been temporarily restricted for non-essential travel until May 20th. Here are some numbers for border crossing as Niagara Falls. The number of buses crossing the border is zero. The number of personal vehicles is very low as well, but has seen a small increase recently. Truck traffic is also up which is a good sign, but it is still about 30% down compared to last year.
See more details on the Bureau of Transportation Statistics website here.
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