Deep Dive: Returning to the office. Is it impacting traffic on the roads?

In this week's Deep Dive, News 12's Kristie Reeter looks into the data when it comes to New Jersey residents.

News 12 Staff

Oct 15, 2021, 10:49 AM

Updated 923 days ago

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It may seem like there is more traffic on the roads, but what do the numbers say?
In this week's Deep Dive, News 12's Kristie Reeter looks into the data when it comes to New Jersey residents.
News 12 asked viewers in a Twitter poll if they plan to return to the office full time and look at the results were very close. About 54.6% said no, while 45.4% said yes.
So with some people returning to the office, does that means more commuting?
News 12 turned to Caleb Silver with Investopedia to take a Deep Dive into the county by county data.
"We know New Jersey has a lot of commuters, but it is really the weakest state in the tri-state area in terms of folks returning to the workplace. We are looking at Google's COVID-19 Mobility Tracker. Believe me, Google knows when you are at the office or not. And if you look county to county Morris County is down 29.8% from pre pandemic levels, Hudson County down 29%, Bergen down 28.8%, a lot of commuters up there. And in Monmouth County down 26.3%, So really not in force in terms of the folks going back into the offices in New Jersey," silver says.
Can one also look at just the public transportation data here in New Jersey?
"We look at that very closely because that is a good proxy for folks commuting into work, whether they are coming into the city or going into Jersey City or other big cities around New Jersey and that's a mixed bag county by county," Silver says. "There is very little usage in the southern part of the state but it is mixed county to county like the Tri State area."


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