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The Austin Transportation Department estimates that Austin traffic will return to normal by this fall or sooner.
AUSTIN, Texas – If you’ve enjoyed faster travel times in the capital last year, it’s probably time to say goodbye and plan a longer drive.
The Austin Transportation Department monitors traffic at key intersections across the city. In May, total traffic fell by an average of 9.5% compared to the first week of February 2020 before the outbreak of the pandemic.
The department is constantly working to keep up with Austin’s explosive growth as it seeks to stay ahead of expectations in the area.
“The need to catch up with Austin is great and will require more hard work in the years to come,” said Jen Duthie, senior engineer, arterial management, Austin Transportation Department.
In late March 2020, Austin traffic decreased by 52%. The Austin Transportation Department reported a high of 1.83 million average weekday trips in February 2020, down to 0.87 million average weekday trips after reporting the first COVID-19 case in Austin.
After that, the traffic increased slightly.
By January 2021, traffic began to gradually increase to today’s levels – about 11% less than the peak of 1.83 million average weekday trips last February.
ATD expects traffic will be full again by fall or sooner.
“As the traffic returns, it is much more dispersed,” said Duthie.
Hey #Austin: Traffic is slowly coming back to life, but it’s still not back to pre-pandemic levels. So how much worse could it get? We talk about that with @austinmobility & @TTITAMU this @KVUE #DaybreakATX. How long is your daily commute?
– Bryce Newberry (@Bryce_Newberry) May 25, 2021
Because cars come to intersections at different times of the day, the city has adjusted 85% of the signal times, which can affect how long you sit in traffic. When traffic returns to normal, times may change again.
“We hope that some of these trends of people who can work remotely can do so part-time to minimize traffic,” said Duthie.
While there is still uncertainty about what working life might be like after the pandemic, there are some trends that experts are already predicting.
“The big change is likely to be that we won’t go back to the same patterns that we had, and the patterns will be variable. It may not be that every Tuesday looks like every other Tuesday, ”said Robert Wunderlich, director of the Center for Transportation Safety at the Texas A&M Transportation Institute.
Although traffic improved across the state during the pandemic, the road deaths weren’t.
“One of the biggest surprises and perhaps even disappointments about the reduction in travel is that our deaths across the state have not decreased and the risk of a fatal accident has actually increased,” said Wunderlich.
A recent report from the governor’s Highway Safety Association found that pedestrian deaths in the Lone Star State rose 9% in 2020.
“The likely culprits are dangerous driving such as speeding, drinking and drug driving, and distraction, which were prevalent on US roads during the COVID-19 pandemic,” the report said.
In Austin, 92 people died in road accidents in 2020, four more than the previous year. With fewer cars on the streets, people could drive faster.
While the city’s continued growth and changing work patterns mean it’s too early to say how much better or worse the traffic could get, another finding meant fewer cars drove on the streets of Austin over the past year that security and mobility projects were implemented faster.
“Our crews have been busier than ever,” said Duthie, “which will ultimately be … a good thing.”
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