Seattle Traffic Plummets As More Workers Stay Home, Report Finds

SEATTLE, WA — Traffic volumes have plummeted around Seattle as more workers stay home, and Washingtonians adhere to social distancing requirements, according to an INRIX report released Wednesday.

The Kirkland-based traffic analytics company said it chose Seattle as the first city to examine the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on commuter habits, since it was among the earliest U.S. cities to adopt significant measures to stop the virus's spread.

"One week into the coronavirus epidemic, Seattle experienced radical changes in commute patterns and consumer behavior," INRIX wrote. "This research is likely a preview of what is to come for hundreds of cities across America if the COVID-19 outbreak continues."

INRIX said some of the most notable changes in traffic were found in downtown Seattle and South Lake Union, where Amazon's headquarters is located.

"This study analyzed both travel and visit behavioral changes that occurred since major employers, including Amazon and Microsoft, enacted work from home policies on Thursday, March 5," INRIX wrote.

Researchers calculated changes based on travel times, changes in total miles traveled and visits to retailers and grocery stores.

INRIX found downtown travel first started to fall on Tuesday, March 3, before "cratering" as more companies adopted work-from-home policies. Trips into the downtown core were down 36 percent for the week of March 9 and had dropped nearly 40 percent during the morning commute.

During the first full week of widespread teleworking, INRIX found trips in the South Lake Union neighborhood were nearly cut in half.

While some of the starkest contrasts were found in Seattle, INRIX said overall miles traveled dropped 13 percent across the region, and have continued to fall nearly 2 percent every day on average.

"This trend can be expected to continue as restrictions on movement continue to increase," INRIX said.

On the regional level, INRIX said the biggest changes to travel habits was noted on typical "social days," like Friday and Saturday.

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