![]() “I’m just going to drive for a little bit.” “I just don’t feel super comfortable” getting back onto BART, Dunson said, with its confined space, proximity to other riders and shared surfaces such as handholds. Until recently, Tiara Dunson stood shoulder-to-shoulder with her fellow commuters in packed rush-hour BART trains each day to get to work in San Francisco. But when she goes back to her job as a physical therapist in a couple of weeks, the 30-year-old from Oakland said she’ll take her car. And as a result, Edwards said, “We are going to have bad traffic.” File photo of traffic moving bumper-to-bumper during the afternoon commute on I-80 in Berkeley, Calif. “We are going to have lesser ridership on transit for the near future,” said Professor Frances Edwards of San Jose State’s Mineta Transportation Institute. But it presents a host of troubling consequences for a region where officials have long tried to lure people out of their automobiles: gridlocked freeways and traffic misery, increased tailpipe emissions and deteriorating air quality, financial hardship for public transportation agencies. ![]() It’s an understandable shift for virus-scarred commuters seeking the physical distance of a private car. ![]() That’s because many of those who once packed into crowded buses and BART trains could opt to drive whenever people begin physically returning to work in large numbers. While clean air and traffic-free roads have been one of the few silver linings amid the coronavirus pandemic, there are worrying signs that the Bay Area’s fearsome congestion could come roaring back once public life resumes - and perhaps be worse than ever.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |