NEW YORK/LONDON: Coronavirus-induced lockdowns caused annual traffic congestion to fall in most countries for the first time in at least 10 years, disrupting long-held traffic patterns like the dreaded morning commute to work, a report released on Tuesday showed.
Congestion declined sharply on the gridlocked roads of crowded cities, including Los Angeles, Bengaluru and Mexico City in 2020, location technology company TomTom said. The pandemic is expected to weigh again on traffic congestion this year, said Nick Cohn, TomTom’s senior traffic expert.
“We’re going to see continued restrictions through the first half of the year, and I think we’re going to see a lot of ups and downs before we’re really getting back to any normal driving patterns and traffic activity levels,” Cohn told Reuters in an interview.
TomTom’s report is based on data from 416 cities in 57 countries. It has published its traffic index for 10 years.
The downturn in congestion in the United States…