Atlanta

Companies telling people to stay home over coronavirus means less traffic on metro roads

ATLANTA — You may have noticed the typical rush hour has been a lot smoother this week, and there may be a connection to the coronavirus.

Some major companies across the country and here in metro Atlanta have asked employees to work from home.

Coca-Cola did it Tuesday, and Cox Enterprises, the former owner of WSB-TV, is doing it for three days. Both companies described it as a test or drill.

But as more Atlanta-based companies do this, it breaks up the gridlock.

“I know a lot of people working from home -- period. They work downtown or outside the perimeter and have been told to stay home and work from home. Especially people whose jobs allow them to do that,” worker Chyrstal Jordan told Channel 2’s Berndt Petersen.

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It's a recent response to concerns over COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus.

One place where the result is obvious is on the major highways around downtown Atlanta.

“Whether it's coronavirus-related or not, we're one of the most wired cities in the nation. When people work from home, if they have that option, you really begin to see the effect on congestion in Atlanta," said Natalie Dale, spokeswoman with the Georgia Department of Transportation.

Dale said this week, there has been a 3% to 7% decrease in daily traffic volumes compared to a month ago.

WSB Triple Team Traffic reporter Ashley Frasca said Fulton County Schools being out the last couple of days was a factor, but more companies asking employees to stay home will take traffic down another notch.

"I would predict by week's end, just even in the next two days, they are going to be lighter than normal," Frasca said.

Jordan said this could change things permanently.

"A lot of people are ordering stuff, not going into stores, ordering things to come to their home. I think this will show us the wave of the future anyway," Jordan said.

GDOT said a 5% drop in the volume of traffic translates to anywhere from 2,000 to 4,000 fewer vehicles at each location it checked.