AUSTIN, Texas — According to data from the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT), Austin has seen the largest decrease in traffic of any major city during the statewide stay-at-home order.
The data compares weekly traffic in select TxDOT districts to traffic from their baseline week of Feb. 22 to Feb. 28, before the order was put in place. The data was collected from many permanent traffic count points, as shown on their statewide planning map.
Austin saw a 49% decrease during the week of March 28 to April 3.
That same week, San Antonio traffic decreased by 43% and Fort Worth saw a 42% decrease. Dallas and Houston saw the least significant traffic decrease that week with 37% and 39%, respectively.
TxDOT found that districts with large urban areas initially saw greater decreases than the rest of the state, but as time progressed, the gap between those districts decreased.
On a statewide basis, weekly traffic totals have shifted from an 18% decrease the week March 14 to March 20 to a 41% decrease the week of March 28 to April 3.
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