Nearly half of New Yorkers plan to avoid mass transit post-lockdown: poll
Almost half of New York City residents plan to avoid mass transit when coronavirus lockdowns begin to ease off, according to a new survey.
Forty-four percent of New Yorkers polled by research company Elucd said they will “avoid public transportation entirely when this current period of quarantine ends,” while just 18.5 percent plan to return to their pre-pandemic transit habits.
Another 31.5 percent said they planned to “use public transportation less” by choosing other modes of travel — such as foot, bike or car.
Just 5.5 percent of New Yorkers planned to work from home, according to the poll, which surveyed 410 city residents this week using digital ads.
The city’s newfound transit aversion is slightly lower than rest of the state and nation — which saw “avoid transit entirely” poll at 47.1 percent and 45.8 percent, respectively.
Among New Yorkers, 61 percent said they would be more confident taking public transit if masks were required for passengers. And almost 30 percent said they’d feel safer if riders were required to test negative for the coronavirus before being allowed on a train or bus.
In a national survey, Elucd found just 10 percent of public transit commuters said they felt safe returning to their office right now, compared with 27 percent of non-transit users.
Transit experts say employers should keep their employees working from home to ensure trains and buses do not become dangerously crowded.
“Maybe you stagger the days certain employees come to work. Maybe you stagger start times, so encouraging employees to not all come in at 9 a.m.,” suggested Ben Fried of the Manhattan-based TransitCenter.
He also said the city must make more space for New Yorkers to commute by bike and scooter — or else face car-mageddon.
“You can’t turn a knob and have everybody taking a car,” he said. “There’s just not enough room for it. The streets have to be a release valve for this ridership that’s going to get displaced from the subway.”