A quantitative analysis of traffic and speed patterns in the GTHA, comparing March 2020 to March 2019, by Senior Research Associate Dr. Islam Taha and UTTRI associated faculty Professor Baher Abdulhai was referenced by Driving in “Motor Mouth: Will commuting ever be normal again?”
The article considers the post-pandemic future of commuting. Will reduced traffic congestion become the norm as employees continue to work from home? Or will congestion increase as commuters avoid public transit?
According to the U of T’s Transportation Research Institute, March 19, 2019’s average eastbound speed was a barely crawling 35.7 km/h; a year later, it was a perfectly passable 78.8 km/h.
Taha and Abdulhai do not expect the reduced congestion to continue, and further, “expect and caution that congestion may even increase if more commuters opt to drive to avoid public transit.”
Link to the full article “Motor Mouth: Will commuting ever be normal again?,” Driving, July 3, 2020.