One undeniable benefit of the state closure last spring was the reduced traffic on the roads. More people were working from home and overall passenger vehicle traffic was significantly down. According to the Illinois Department of Transportation, in mid-March, traffic in Illinois was half of what it was at the same time in 2019. If you were out and about, you likely appreciated this reprieve from bumper-to-bumper congestion.
As a Chicago native, Marc Zaransky can’t deny he also enjoyed the brief break, as traveling across the city felt like a breeze. As a professional in the automotive industry, the reduced road congestion was also good for business. Zaransky operates the largest independent vehicle leasing company in Illinois and operates in fifty states. The company primarily provides leased vehicles and finance options for large corporate accounts. With this insight into commercial vehicle operations, Zaransky knows that the reduced passenger vehicle traffic in Chicago, and Illinois on a greater scale, has been instrumental for many businesses. He provides a brief overview of the current state traffic in this region.
Recorded Traffic Volumes
While passenger vehicle traffic was at 64% of 2019’s volume in early spring, commercial vehicle traffic’s decline wasn’t quite as drastic. In April, commercial vehicle traffic was at 80% compared to the same time in 2019, down only 20%. A significant contributor to this surprising figure, says Zaransky, is the number of delivery vehicles on the road. More and more people are opting to shop at Amazon or other online retailers rather than risk the trip to stores in person, particularly for non-urgent purchases. Despite new online sales taxes introduced in Illinois in early 2020, ecommerce continues to soar.
With online shopping booming, delivery services continue to operate at a higher capacity. More vehicles are on the road delivering those online purchases. As passenger vehicle traffic begins to ramp up again with the reopening of the state, we may see even worse traffic than before COVID-19, says Zaransky. As of June 2020, commercial traffic was back to 94% of the volume seen at the same time in 2019. Now, with the kids back at school and adults back at work, the commute is starting to feel worse than ever before.
The Effect of Traffic Jams
Something we may see as the traffic jams return to our everyday lives, suggests Zaransky, is increased delivery wait times for online purchases. Packages will take longer to get delivered simply because shipping relies heavily on trucks’ and other delivery vehicles’ ability to use the roads. Finding places to stop on particularly busy city streets may also become a growing concern for delivery people as they try to navigate busy streets for residential and commercial deliveries alike.
The Bottom Line
The open roads of spring may be behind us, but what’s ahead might be a bigger headache than what we experienced before COVID-19 disrupted economies. More traffic jams, slower deliveries, and more time on the road seems to be quickly becoming yet another side-effect of the global pandemic.
Stats sourced from: https://www.chicagotribune.com/business/transportation/ct-biz-coronavirus-illinois-traffic-rebound-20200617-obm2c4aha5byrol72q6jodq734-story.html
