Traffic: question from curiosity
I listen intermittently to CBC radio mostly for the news, but the shoe dropped today: they do traffic, and there seems to be an awful lot of traffic given that most office people are still working from home (aren’t they?). I know there are a lot of jobs that can’t be done remotely, and there’s still trucking and commercial traffic, but are there really enough people moving around on the 9 to 5 to cause traffic jams?
Or is CBC simply giving their traffic guy something to do, noting accidents and so on? I’m not a driver, so I can’t judge.
EmilyG 18:16 on 2020-07-30 Permalink
Listening to the traffic reports during the pandemic, it seems that when they first opened some additional things up after locking most things down, there was more traffic.
(Sorry this sounds non-specific, but I can’t remember exactly what was shut down when and what reopened when. The traffic increases started maybe late March/early April? Mid-April?)
And of course, the perennial people on Friday afternoons going to the proverbial cottage.
EmilyG 18:41 on 2020-07-30 Permalink
Also: I think many people who would normally take public transit now see it as unsafe, and are driving.
Ian 18:54 on 2020-07-30 Permalink
Delivery jobs haven’t stopped and a very large portion of Montreal traffic is trucks, especially around the Triangle – where traffic jams occur. Our groceries, the stock for all those big stores hat have re-opened, even our milk and beer all come in tractor trailers. Then there are the fleets of cube vans… none of it really stopped. CBC gives traffic every few minutes in rush hour, they didn’t stop doing that during the pandemic.
Meezly 19:17 on 2020-07-30 Permalink
The only time when there was literally no traffic were the few sweet weeks after the initial shutdown in March. I was riding my bike whenever I could because the streets were so empty. And it was still cold enough so there weren’t many other cyclists. Then traffic started to pick up again in mid-April, maybe? And when the weather got warm, cycling suddenly got all trendy cuz Covid. I remember how fleeting it all seemed to ride those empty streets, repeating to myself, enjoy it while you can, this isn’t gonna last. It really didn’t. Don’t think that situation will happen again anytime soon.
Kevin 20:42 on 2020-07-30 Permalink
Traffic was nonexistent until June, then it increased slightly. It’s still light, with three caveats:
Everybody works on Wednesday and Thursday.
There are many roads blocked by cones, more than normal, even if no work is being done.
Today there were a few big crashes.
Oh, and the key thing about traffic now is how long it takes to get through a jam. will you be stuck for 5 minutes or 25 at Jean Talon and Decarie?
Today more colli
Uatu 00:13 on 2020-07-31 Permalink
I still listen mostly for the metro status because the orange line still seems to break down even if there are only Sunday morning levels of riders using it