NYC Traffic Is Back to Pre-Pandemic Levels at Bridges & Tunnels
While automobile traffic increased in NYC, train ridership suffered.
Despite the ongoing pandemic, New York City is starting to feel "normal" again, and that includes traffic congestion.
NYC bridges and tunnels are witnessing traffic comparable to (if not worse than) before the pandemic.
"At the bridges and tunnels, the volumes have recovered to pre-pandemic levels or actually slightly above," Rick Cotton, Executive Director of Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, told Bloomberg. "I think you'd have to say that there has been somewhat of a shift of people preferring to drive in cars as opposed to using public transportation."
According to the Port Authority, in the last month daily traffic across the Port Authority's bridges and tunnels increased by 4% over March, while April traffic levels were the same as those of April 2019.
On the other hand, trains are negatively affected. Ridership is still at 50% of pre-pandemic metrics on the bi-state PATH train. The MTA recently saw a post-pandemic high in subway ridership, but it remains at less than 70% of pre-pandemic levels. Commuter trains like Long Island Railroad and Metro North are even lower. "In the last 24 months, we have seen $3 billion of revenue disappear," Cotton told Bloomberg.