The Pandemic Is Changing How People Get Around

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Cyclists enjoy a ride on Chicago’s Lakefront Trail on a recent evening. Biking there and all across the country is up significantly during the pandemic.

David Schaper/NPR

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Magali Olson shows her new electric scooter, which she bought a week ago so she doesn’t have to commute on the train.

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Kozy’s Cyclery in Chicago is one of the bike shops across the country finding it hard to keep shelves stocked.

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It’s the same story at bicycle shops all across the country, and while some of the demand is coming from those who want bikes to commute, much of it is from recreational users who see it as way to enjoy the outdoors with their families, or spend time with friends in a safe and socially distant way.

«Biking is really on fire right now,» says Audrey Wennink, director of transportation for the Metropolitan Planning Council in Chicago, a regional nonprofit focused on urban planning.

She says many cities are expanding bike-share programs, like Chicago’s Divvy bikes, to accommodate the increased demand. There are also more shared scooter programs, and some cities are working to accommodate the pandemic-related increase in walking, with new trails, sidewalk improvements and safety enhancements.

But as scores of bicyclists, skateboarders and rollerbladers whiz by her on Chicago’s busy Lakefront Trail, she points to the hundreds of cars jamming up on the eight-lane highway next to it, Lake Shore Drive.

«We are seeing traffic levels, in terms of cars, having gone up to almost pre-COVID levels.»

Even though many people are out of work or still working from home, many cities are seeing significant increases in motor vehicle traffic this summer.

In Chicago and in other cities with robust transit systems, people who have never owned cars before are suddenly buying them. In New York City, some are calling it «carmaggedon,» as residents there registered 40,000 new cars in July, the highest monthly total in years. Meanwhile, NYC subway ridership is still down more than 75% from last year.

Across the country, used car sales in particular are up, while people still largely avoid car-sharing and ride-hailing companies like Uber and Lyft. Their business remains down significantly.

At the same time, many cities are at least temporarily closing off many streets to cars, turning them into bike lanes and shared spaces for pedestrians, outdoor dining and even play lots.

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«This is a real turning point,» says Wennink, «and we can go one of two ways.»

«One, where we see a huge uptick in car usage and car ownership and congestion,» Wennink says. Alternatively, cities can support more active and sustainable transportation options, like walking and biking.

«Because the long term problems that we have of climate change, of congestion, of constrained spaces in urban areas, those are still conditions that will continue to exist.»

She and other transportation and urban planning experts say there’s an opportunity in the COVID-19 crisis: to rethink how people get will around and use urban spaces differently in a post-pandemic world.