Rush Hour Is Back In North Texas As More Venture Out During Pandemic
DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - With most North Texas businesses back open at some capacity, more people are venturing out from their homes during the coronavirus pandemic.
One of the clearest signs of that, the afternoon rush hour is back.
Data from the Texas Department of Transportation shows the number of cars on the road started to drop significantly back in mid-March, the week Dallas and Tarrant Counties ordered restaurants to close to dine-in customers.
Traffic was down 23% in the Dallas area and 22% in Fort Worth.
Traffic fell even more the following week (34% and 37% respectively) as local stay-at home orders took effect.
Two days after Governor Greg Abbott ordered non-essential businesses to close, traffic hit a low statewide.
It was down 55% that weekend.
But it's been slowly creeping back up ever since.
The most recent data shows by the first week of May, Dallas traffic was down 19% from what it would normally be.
CBS 11 spoke to a Vice President for Fuel City, Erik Kotanchik, who said drivers are buying about 85% as much gas as they were before the pandemic.
SEE THE TxDOT DATA HERE