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Americans are standing clear of closing doors and watching the gap between trains and platforms at the highest rates in over a year.
The return to using public transit comes as more than 25% of the total U.S. population are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and nearly 40% have received at least one dose.
In New York City, ridership levels as of April 19 are 36% below their pre-pandemic levels but have more than doubled since last year’s lows, Moovit data shows.
Total traffic on bridges and tunnels in New York City is even closer to their pre-pandemic levels, according to data from the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. On April 17 traffic was just 3.7% below the pre-pandemic equivalent day.
In Miami, Fla. public transit ridership has returned to its pre-pandemic levels, according to data from Moovit, a mobile app owned by Intel
INTC,
that helps 950 million daily users across the world plan and book trips using public transit.
Americans in the Miami-Dade county area have benefitted from free bus and Metrorail rides since March 22 last year — but will have to start paying pre-pandemic fares beginning June 1.
Across the U.S. some 21% of employed Americans continue to work remotely as of March, compared to last May when more than 35% of Americans worked remotely, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data.
In addition to daily commutes, lately, Americans are flying at the highest rates during the pandemic, according to airport checkpoint data published by the Transportation Security Administration.
Earlier this month, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention relaxed its travel guidelines for vaccinated Americans saying that they can travel domestically without needing to get tested or quarantine.
However the agency is still advising against travel because of the increased risk it poses for spreading COVID to unvaccinated people.
