How COVID-19 has Affected Transportation in Metro Atlanta

May 5, 2020

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GoToWebinar Interface

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How COVID-19 has Affected Transportation in Metro Atlanta

Melissa Roberts, ARCCommunity Engagement

Mark Demidovich, GDOTAssist. State Traffic Eng.

Heather Alhadeff, MARTAAssistant General Manager

John Orr, ARCTransp. Group Manager

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Discussion on the Impacts of COVID-19 on Regional Transportation

• Share the sources of data now available

• Highlight travel trends since March

• Discuss impacts

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Innovative New Data Sources to Understand Travel: Google COVID-19 Community Mobility Reports

• Reports show how visits and length of stay at different places change compared to a baseline: the 5- week period from Jan 3–Feb 6, 2020

• The reports show trends over several weeks

• Reports are created with aggregated, anonymized sets of data from users who have turned on the Location History setting, which is off by default

• Planners have never had this capability before

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Example Report: Fulton County https://www.gstatic.com/covid19/mobility/2020-04-

26_US_Georgia_Mobility_Report_en.pdf

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Retail/Recreational Travel Reductions Range From 10% to 54%

Source: Google COVID-19 Community Mobility Report https://www.gstatic.com/covid19/mobility/2020-04-26_US_Georgia_Mobility_Report_en.pdf

LocationEstimated Travel Reductions

Retail & Recreational LocationEstimated Travel Reductions

Retail & RecreationalStatewide -34% Forsyth -40%Barrow -18% Fulton -44%Carroll -20% Gwinnett -41%Cherokee -32% Henry -33%Clayton -23% Newton -17%Cobb -45% Paulding -25%Coweta -33% Pike -54%Dawson -38% Rockdale -32%DeKalb -42% Spalding -10%Douglas -30% Walton -17%Fayette -37%

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Workplaces Travel Reductions Range From 29% to 45%

Source: Google COVID-19 Community Mobility Report https://www.gstatic.com/covid19/mobility/2020-04-26_US_Georgia_Mobility_Report_en.pdf

LocationEstimated Travel Reductions

Workplaces LocationEstimated Travel Reductions

WorkplacesStatewide -42% Forsyth -39%Barrow -34% Fulton -44%Carroll -32% Gwinnett -42%Cherokee -37% Henry -41%Clayton -35% Newton -36%Cobb -41% Paulding -35%Coweta -39% Pike -40%Dawson -32% Rockdale -35%DeKalb -42% Spalding -29%Douglas -37% Walton -33%Fayette -45%

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Transit Stations Travel Reductions Range From 13% to 86%

Source: Google COVID-19 Community Mobility Report https://www.gstatic.com/covid19/mobility/2020-04-26_US_Georgia_Mobility_Report_en.pdf

LocationEstimated Travel Reductions

Transit Stations LocationEstimated Travel Reductions

Transit StationsStatewide -59% Forsyth N/ABarrow N/A Fulton -55%Carroll -22% Gwinnett -40%Cherokee N/A Henry N/AClayton -86% Newton N/ACobb -39% Paulding N/ACoweta -15% Pike N/ADawson N/A Rockdale N/ADeKalb -27% Spalding N/ADouglas -13% Walton N/AFayette N/A

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Innovative New Data Sources to Understand Travel: Streetlight Emergency Map Response

• The VMT Monitor combines Cuebiq’s near-real time Mobility Index with StreetLight’s algorithms that transform location data into aggregated and normalized travel patterns.

• Uses repositories of data depicting historical VMT to assess travel compared to averages (January 2020).

• Planners have never had this capability before in being able to assess near real-time travel levels.

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https://www.streetlightdata.com/VMT-monitor-by-county/#emergency-map-response

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Since March 20th, Georgia Vehicle Travel is Estimated to Be Down 59%

NOTE: VMT estimates will not match up with FHWA HPMS data due to differing methodologies. January VMT used as a benchmark for determining average VMT reductions.Source: Streetlight.com https://www.streetlightdata.com/VMT-monitor-by-county/#emergency-map-response

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Estimated Vehicle Miles Traveled in Georgia

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Since March 20th, Regional Travel is Estimated to Be Down 67%

NOTE: VMT estimates will not match up with FHWA HPMS data due to differing methodologies. January VMT used as a benchmark for determining average VMT reductions.Source: Streetlight.com -https://www.streetlightdata.com/VMT-monitor-by-county/#emergency-map-response

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Daily County-Level Travel (VMT) Reductions Have Ranged From 45% to 79% Compared to Normal Travel Conditions

From March 20 – May 1

Source: Streetlight.com -https://www.streetlightdata.com/VMT-monitor-by-county/#emergency-map-response

Location Estimated VMT Reduction Location Estimated VMT ReductionsRegional -67% Forsyth -78%Barrow -48% Fulton -79%Carroll -51% Gwinnett -68%Cherokee -70% Henry -56%Clayton -47% Newton -50%Cobb -73% Paulding -58%Coweta -62% Pike -45%Dawson -61% Rockdale -55%DeKalb -71% Spalding -50%Douglas -56% Walton -54%Fayette -73%

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Why is monitoring travel important? During the Last Recession, National VMT did not Return to 2008 Pre-Recession Levels Until 2015 (7 years)

Source: FHWA https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/policyinformation/travel_monitoring/20jantvt/page2.cfm

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Questions?

Melissa Roberts, ARCCommunity Engagement

Mark Demidovich, GDOTAssist. State Traffic Eng.

Heather Alhadeff, MARTAAssistant General Manager

John Orr, ARCTransp. Group Manager