If You Can’t Work From Home, At Least Your Commute Will Be Shorter Due To Coronavirus

Although it wasn’t until today that COVID-19 (aka novel coronavirus) was officially declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization, many businesses and employees started taking precautions days ago, and their measures have not gone unnoticed. Logistics data provider Inrix posted an update on its blog showing that vehicle speeds during rush-hour have increased, effectively eliminating gridlock in some areas.

Inrix analyzed travel times in the five metropolitan areas with the highest number of confirmed COVID-19 cases: Boston, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, and Seattle. Travel speeds in Seattle increased the fastest due to the work-from-home policies put into effect by Amazon and Microsoft starting on March 5, which resulted in a 30% increase in average travel speeds during the 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. peak commute periods.

Although driving speeds have gone up, San Francisco has not yet shown the same dramatic commute changes that Seattle has. Traffic was actually heavier than normal in Boston, Los Angeles, and New York last Friday.

The change in travel speeds was calculated by comparing the average speeds for each of the respective days for the eight weeks preceding the first full week of March.

Inrix noted that as the virus spreads and more companies implement work-from-home policies that enable employees in an effort to slow transmission of COVID-19 similar shifts in traffic patterns will emerge. In an update to FORBES, Inrix provided the following statistics about the impact COVID-19 is having on commutes for this morning compared to a typical Wednesday:

• San Francisco: 22% faster

• Seattle: 23% faster

• Los Angeles: 11% faster

• New York: 12% faster

• Boston: 12% faster

• DC: 10% faster