Massachusetts Sees An Increase In Traffic For First Time In Months
BOSTON (CBS) -- If you're one of the few who's taken to the roads lately, you know traffic has been a breeze, but Massachusetts transportation officials just released a chart showing something they haven't seen in a long time: "We do seem to see the beginning of travel," said Mass. Transportation Secretary Stephanie Pollack.
In some areas, state data shows traffic increased as much as 95% last week from the week before.
"There is a phenomenon that is dubbed quarantine fatigue, in which people are getting sort of tired of being home, and this may indicate that we are seeing some quarantine fatigue," Pollack said.
AAA Northeast spokesperson Mary Maguire said some of those drivers may work in bordering states that have already started reopening. The holiday this past weekend may have also had an impact.
"I think probably there was a fair amount of travel for Mothers Day weekend, despite the fact that we're all supposed to be at home, so slowly we will see demand start to increase," said Maguire.
GasBuddy.com also tracks travel and gas prices. "With demand going up, gasoline prices are going up hand-in-hand as more Americans are seeing their states reopen and/or just hitting the road," said GasBuddy spokesperson Patrick De Haas.
Nationwide, prices at the pump are an average of 95 cents-per-gallon less than at this time last year.