Boston rush-hour traffic as hellish as pre-Covid levels, new data analysis shows – The Business Journals
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You’re likely working from home more often than you did before the pandemic. But on those days you drive into the office, there’s a good chance your commute is as much a nightmare now as it was back then.
Rush-hour traffic in Greater Boston is as bad as it was in 2019 on several main routes, including the Massachusetts Turnpike and I-93, according to an analysis by research firm INRIX on the Business Journal’s behalf.
Boston traffic is slowing down a way it wasn’t even a year ago, the data show. The problem, in other words, is getting worse.
The growing gridlock comes as more employers ask workers to work in the office more frequently and as the MBTA continues its struggle with slow zones and service issues.
It also comes with public officials and business leaders beginning to debate new ways to fund transportation, including potentially through congestion pricing.
At the request of the Business Journal, INRIX examined cellphone and other data on certain highways and roads on weekdays for the last week of February and the first week of March for each year from 2019 to 2024. It looked at inbound traffic from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. on weekday mornings and outbound traffic from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. on weekday afternoons.
The Pike showed a return to a pre-pandemic normal, even though office-occupancy levels are nowhere near where they were prior to 2020.
In 2021, when most people were unvaccinated against Covid-19 and many offices were still closed, drivers could fly downtown on I-90: Eastbound from I-95, the average speed on a weekday morning in late February and early March of that year was 58.9 mph, close to the speed limit.
In 2024, however, the average morning rush-hour speed was 31.7 mph — 21% slower than the same period in 2023 and slower even than it was in 2019. Outbound afternoon traffic is almost as bad as 2019 levels and significantly slower than it was last year.
A similar pattern can be seen on I-93, both north and south of Boston. The average speed now is within one or two miles per hour of what it was in 2019.
And on Route 1 north of the city, though the afternoon outbound rush isn’t quite as bad as it was pre-pandemic.
Those numbers measure average rush-hour speeds Monday through Friday, but in this new hybrid-work world, many people do not go into the office at the very beginning or very end of the week. Average speeds are slightly slower midweek, though that was also the case before the pandemic, according to INRIX data.
Some workers may have decided they can put up with the traffic a few days a week, when they might have taken the subway or commuter rail pre-pandemic when they had to come in five days a week. Of course, there’s also the T’s poor performance and service cuts over the past few years to consider. Systemwide, weekday service levels are 85% of what they were pre-Covid, according to data compiled by the advocacy group TransitMatters. MBTA ridership is 65% of pre-pandemic levels.
Not every major road is quite back to the Before Times.
Boston’s Storrow Drive and Cambridge’s Memorial Drive are seeing similar traffic slowdowns as such highways as I-90 and I-93, but downtown roads are somewhat better than in 2019 But “better” is relative when you look at traffic on Purchase Street or Atlantic Avenue downtown, for example, or on Seaport Boulevard, where an average morning-rush speed of 13.3 mph is notably better than the 9.8 mph five years ago.
Meanwhile, Route 2 commuters can rejoice: That road’s average morning-commute speed is still 15% faster than it was in 2019, according to the INRIX data, though the average afternoon speeds are closer together.
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This article was autogenerated from a news feed from CDO TIMES selected high quality news and research sources. There was no editorial review conducted beyond that by CDO TIMES staff. Need help with any of the topics in our articles? Schedule your free CDO TIMES Tech Navigator call today to stay ahead of the curve and gain insider advantages to propel your business!
You’re likely working from home more often than you did before the pandemic. But on those days you drive into the office, there’s a good chance your commute is as much a nightmare now as it was back then.
Rush-hour traffic in Greater Boston is as bad as it was in 2019 on several main routes, including the Massachusetts Turnpike and I-93, according to an analysis by research firm INRIX on the Business Journal’s behalf.
Boston traffic is slowing down a way it wasn’t even a year ago, the data show. The problem, in other words, is getting worse.
The growing gridlock comes as more employers ask workers to work in the office more frequently and as the MBTA continues its struggle with slow zones and service issues.
It also comes with public officials and business leaders beginning to debate new ways to fund transportation, including potentially through congestion pricing.
At the request of the Business Journal, INRIX examined cellphone and other data on certain highways and roads on weekdays for the last week of February and the first week of March for each year from 2019 to 2024. It looked at inbound traffic from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. on weekday mornings and outbound traffic from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. on weekday afternoons.
The Pike showed a return to a pre-pandemic normal, even though office-occupancy levels are nowhere near where they were prior to 2020.
In 2021, when most people were unvaccinated against Covid-19 and many offices were still closed, drivers could fly downtown on I-90: Eastbound from I-95, the average speed on a weekday morning in late February and early March of that year was 58.9 mph, close to the speed limit.
In 2024, however, the average morning rush-hour speed was 31.7 mph — 21% slower than the same period in 2023 and slower even than it was in 2019. Outbound afternoon traffic is almost as bad as 2019 levels and significantly slower than it was last year.
A similar pattern can be seen on I-93, both north and south of Boston. The average speed now is within one or two miles per hour of what it was in 2019.
And on Route 1 north of the city, though the afternoon outbound rush isn’t quite as bad as it was pre-pandemic.
Those numbers measure average rush-hour speeds Monday through Friday, but in this new hybrid-work world, many people do not go into the office at the very beginning or very end of the week. Average speeds are slightly slower midweek, though that was also the case before the pandemic, according to INRIX data.
Some workers may have decided they can put up with the traffic a few days a week, when they might have taken the subway or commuter rail pre-pandemic when they had to come in five days a week. Of course, there’s also the T’s poor performance and service cuts over the past few years to consider. Systemwide, weekday service levels are 85% of what they were pre-Covid, according to data compiled by the advocacy group TransitMatters. MBTA ridership is 65% of pre-pandemic levels.
Not every major road is quite back to the Before Times.
Boston’s Storrow Drive and Cambridge’s Memorial Drive are seeing similar traffic slowdowns as such highways as I-90 and I-93, but downtown roads are somewhat better than in 2019 But “better” is relative when you look at traffic on Purchase Street or Atlantic Avenue downtown, for example, or on Seaport Boulevard, where an average morning-rush speed of 13.3 mph is notably better than the 9.8 mph five years ago.
Meanwhile, Route 2 commuters can rejoice: That road’s average morning-commute speed is still 15% faster than it was in 2019, according to the INRIX data, though the average afternoon speeds are closer together.
2023 Mass. engineering billings
2024 CFO of the Year
The Boston Business Journal recognizes the top chief financial officers who deliver the most outstanding performance for their Massachusetts companies.
© 2023 American City Business Journals. All rights reserved. Use of and/or registration on any portion of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement (updated January 24, 2023) and Privacy Policy (updated December 19, 2023). The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of American CityBusiness Journals.
This article was autogenerated from a news feed from CDO TIMES selected high quality news and research sources. There was no editorial review conducted beyond that by CDO TIMES staff. Need help with any of the topics in our articles? Schedule your free CDO TIMES Tech Navigator call today to stay ahead of the curve and gain insider advantages to propel your business!
