Is Mid-Day the New Rush Hour?

Started by webny99, May 24, 2020, 05:52:18 PM

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webny99

Something I've noticed since the COVID-19 pandemic began is that traditional rush hours no longer exist, as most offices and schools are shuttered. Morning and afternoon commutes feel almost like weekend travel used to, and that has become the new normal.
However, people are still going out and about for other non-work related reasons, especially as we start to gradually reopen. It seems to me that roughly between noon and 3 PM is the peak of travel for shopping, exercise, and so on.

So, my question is: Is mid day the new rush hour in your town or city? Is this something that would have happened anyway and was just sped up by COVID-19? And will we ever again think of "rush hour" in the same way that we used to, or will this trend of travel concentrated around mid day endure beyond the end of the pandemic?


Rothman

Please note: All comments here represent my own personal opinion and do not reflect the official position(s) of NYSDOT.

webny99

It is certainly perspective-setting to look back on this a year later as we start to put the pandemic behind us.

I can see some grains of truth here, but mostly, I think traditional rush hours are still intact (although not quite to the same extent as before).

Max Rockatansky

Depends on where you live and work.  Example; if you work on a military base there definitely is a surge of traffic at noon everyday.

bing101

Quote from: Max Rockatansky on May 21, 2021, 08:55:15 AM
Depends on where you live and work.  Example; if you work on a military base there definitely is a surge of traffic at noon everyday.
Yes I knew Fairfield, CA does get a surge of Traffic for Travis Air Force Base at noon. But then again it's Solano County, CA I -80 has to handle Sacramento and Bay Area commuters at the same time once the Covid-19 vaccination rate increases.

froggie

Mentioned this in another thread, but the Wall Street Journal had a recent article discussing this topic and found that in several large metro areas (especially in Florida), afternoon traffic (bumping into the traditional "evening rush hour") is busier now than pre-COVID.  Morning traffic is still noticeably below pre-COVID levels.

Long story short, and as noted this will depend on your geographical area, it's not so much a mid-day rush as it is an extended afternoon/evening rush.

OCGuy81

I've noticed that lines in drive thrus at the lunch hour have gotten much worse since the pandemic began.

The other day a line for Wendy's was out into the street, and I've seen this at the lunch hour a few times now.

Ditto McDonalds.

ztonyg

Quote from: OCGuy81 on May 21, 2021, 11:42:30 AM
I've noticed that lines in drive thrus at the lunch hour have gotten much worse since the pandemic began.

The other day a line for Wendy's was out into the street, and I've seen this at the lunch hour a few times now.

Ditto McDonalds.

It's because with all the WFH people are going to drive thrus close to their house at lunchtime.

OCGuy81

Quote from: ztonyg on May 21, 2021, 11:50:53 AM
Quote from: OCGuy81 on May 21, 2021, 11:42:30 AM
I've noticed that lines in drive thrus at the lunch hour have gotten much worse since the pandemic began.

The other day a line for Wendy's was out into the street, and I've seen this at the lunch hour a few times now.

Ditto McDonalds.

It's because with all the WFH people are going to drive thrus close to their house at lunchtime.

I figured a combination of that, and the walk in option not being available at a lot of fast food joints.

vdeane

I've noticed that the light here seems to be a lot busier than I remember it, often backing up to the SPUI on my drive home.  I wonder if needing to wait multiple light cycles to go grocery shopping on my drive home will become a regular occurrence.
Please note: All comments here represent my own personal opinion and do not reflect the official position of NYSDOT or its affiliates.

gr8daynegb

All based on where you live.  I live around Green Bay, WI. But any time I had to drive through Chicago, IL I always try to avoid driving through the city at these times:
6:30a-9am
11:30am-1:30pm
3:15p-7:30p

as these seem to be peak times, or times trying to drive through city, that cause me to run into traffic jams or make me take path around city(sometimes no better for time) than going through.

To each their own......

So Lone Star now you see that evil will always triumph because good is dumb.

GCrites

Quote from: OCGuy81 on May 21, 2021, 12:26:26 PM
Quote from: ztonyg on May 21, 2021, 11:50:53 AM
Quote from: OCGuy81 on May 21, 2021, 11:42:30 AM
I've noticed that lines in drive thrus at the lunch hour have gotten much worse since the pandemic began.

The other day a line for Wendy's was out into the street, and I've seen this at the lunch hour a few times now.

Ditto McDonalds.

It's because with all the WFH people are going to drive thrus close to their house at lunchtime.

I figured a combination of that, and the walk in option not being available at a lot of fast food joints.

And people aren't going to sit-down restaurants as much -- if they can at all.

webny99

Quote from: OCGuy81 on May 21, 2021, 12:26:26 PM
I figured a combination of that, and the walk in option not being available at a lot of fast food joints.

Is walk-in still unavailable at some places? It seems to be re-opened for the most part around here.

OCGuy81

Quote from: webny99 on May 21, 2021, 05:01:19 PM
Quote from: OCGuy81 on May 21, 2021, 12:26:26 PM
I figured a combination of that, and the walk in option not being available at a lot of fast food joints.

Is walk-in still unavailable at some places? It seems to be re-opened for the most part around here.

It's a mixed bag here.  In regards to fast food joints, some are open for both, some only drive up.

As far as sit down restaurants go, they just downgraded the risk category of this county today, and most places are open.

Bruce

Even if walk-ins are allowed, the lack of staffing is used as an excuse to keep lobbies closed, even to delivery drivers. Waiting for 20 minutes in the drive-thru is a total waste of time.

TheHighwayMan3561

Quote from: webny99 on May 21, 2021, 05:01:19 PM
Quote from: OCGuy81 on May 21, 2021, 12:26:26 PM
I figured a combination of that, and the walk in option not being available at a lot of fast food joints.

Is walk-in still unavailable at some places? It seems to be re-opened for the most part around here.

Depends on the chain and franchise owners. KFCs locally here are still all drive-thru only, and have never reopened indoor dining at any point in over a year while Taco Bells reopened dining rooms fairly quickly and have kept them open other than during the second dine-in ban over the last holiday season. Culver's left it to their individual franchisees to decide when to reopen, and the one near my work has had dine-in available for several months.
self-certified as the dumbest person on this board for 5 years running

bing101

Isn't midday usually the time when truck traffic is at its peak. I remember hearing that the I-710 freeway in Los Angeles is jammed at midday due to the Port of Long Beach.
Note I remember Highway 880 Cypress freeway in Oakland was jammed at midday due to Truck traffic at the port of Oakland. Some of this was pre-Covid.

Brandon

No.  Morning and evening are still shitshows.
"If you think this has a happy ending, you haven't been paying attention." - Ramsay Bolton

"Symbolic of his struggle against reality." - Reg

3467

Kastle.com  monitors office occupancy. The highest is Texas in the 40s NYC is in the teens and Chicago in the twenties Chicago has been allowed to be in the sixties for at least a few weeks. The Dan Ryan continuous count is at 85 % but Metra is only 10.
Today a nice May Friday the Kennedy IKE Stevenson are about an hour both ways . The Tri State is seeing some capacity issues finally in the construction The Borman is a construction mess.
I am downstate a realtor told me we got a few permanent remote workers.
Also reports are about 10 % of Restaurant went under. Iowa Restaurant Association has a similar number.
I could see some labor tightness with retirement and long covid . I think I read there was an increase in retirement. If our long covid rate is like UK there would be millions. Also less immigration and low population growth.

webny99

Quote from: TheHighwayMan394 on May 21, 2021, 07:14:48 PM
Quote from: webny99 on May 21, 2021, 05:01:19 PM
Is walk-in still unavailable at some places? It seems to be re-opened for the most part around here.

Depends on the chain and franchise owners. KFCs locally here are still all drive-thru only, and have never reopened indoor dining at any point in over a year while Taco Bells reopened dining rooms fairly quickly and have kept them open other than during the second dine-in ban over the last holiday season ...

Interesting; around here Taco Bell was one of the last places to reopen. Dunkin has remained open to walk-ins throughout (not doing so would be very costly between the app orders and long drive-thru lines).

I believe Wendy's and Dairy Queen have remained open throughout as well, except for the one time that Dairy Queen had a somewhat apocalyptic sign next to/on the drive thru window basically saying they would be ceasing operations if it wasn't for your business. Only after driving around and noticing the emptier-than-usual parking lot did it occur to me that their dining room must have been closed. Whatever caused it didn't last more than a month or two at most since the sign was gone and traffic had returned to normal levels the next time I was there.

Rothman

Quote from: webny99 on May 21, 2021, 08:07:46 PM
Quote from: TheHighwayMan394 on May 21, 2021, 07:14:48 PM
Quote from: webny99 on May 21, 2021, 05:01:19 PM
Is walk-in still unavailable at some places? It seems to be re-opened for the most part around here.

Depends on the chain and franchise owners. KFCs locally here are still all drive-thru only, and have never reopened indoor dining at any point in over a year while Taco Bells reopened dining rooms fairly quickly and have kept them open other than during the second dine-in ban over the last holiday season ...

Interesting; around here Taco Bell was one of the last places to reopen. Dunkin has remained open to walk-ins throughout (not doing so would be very costly between the app orders and long drive-thru lines).

I believe Wendy's and Dairy Queen have remained open throughout as well, except for the one time that Dairy Queen had a somewhat apocalyptic sign next to/on the drive thru window basically saying they would be ceasing operations if it wasn't for your business. Only after driving around and noticing the emptier-than-usual parking lot did it occur to me that their dining room must have been closed. Whatever caused it didn't last more than a month or two at most since the sign was gone and traffic had returned to normal levels the next time I was there.
Wendy's in central NY went drive thru only.
Please note: All comments here represent my own personal opinion and do not reflect the official position(s) of NYSDOT.



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