The Pandemic Has Reduced New York City's Most Polluting Modes of Transportation

Photos & Text By Annie Werbler

Staying home has slowed more than just the rate of spread of the coronavirus. In New York City, across the country, and around the world, the decrease in air and motor vehicle transportation use has cut the amount of carbon emissions released into the atmosphere, along with airborne pollutants.

Northeast USA tropospheric total NO2 (kt) March 2015-2019 average vs. March 2020 average, data courtesy NASA.

Detectable from space, nitrogen dioxide levels in the atmosphere indicate fossil fuel combustion and electricity generation. NASA studied average emissions levels from its Aura satellite for the months of March over the past five years, and measured a thirty percent drop in 2020 air pollution over major US metro areas. Natural weather variations can cause some year-over-year differences, but the NO2 trend had been on the rise since 2015. This year it has dropped by almost half.

Northeast USA tropospheric NO2 March 2015-2019 average (left) vs. March 2020 average (right), courtesy NASA. The darkest areas represent the highest concentration of air pollution.

NO2 measurements are consistently lower this year across the I-95 corridor snaking its way down the eastern coast from Maine to Florida, pointing to causation by widespread shelter-in-place orders in the region. More people are staying off the roads and out of the skies, and the environmental impact has been immediate and striking.

The circular JFK Expressway is the main artery connecting airport terminals and buildings. In the time of COVID-19 lockdowns, it is practically empty.

In New York City, John F. Kennedy International Airport in Queens is a major thoroughfare that services more than 70 airlines out of six terminals, with over 60 million travelers passing through its nearly five thousand acres each year. According to the United States Department of Transportation Office of Aviation Analysis, JFK is the most popular arrival destination for international travelers to the US. The airport also services travelers based across the NYC region including New Jersey, Connecticut, and the suburbs to the north of the city.

Satellite imagery of JFK Airport taken on the Tuesday before Easter Sunday 2019 (left) and 2020 (right), both in the 3PM hour, courtesy Planet.

Flight traffic to JFK has dropped off drastically since early March, when the federal government restricted travel from Europe, and New York State went on PAUSE. The satellite images above show an increased number of planes parked and waiting in lots, with fewer activated to accept passengers at terminal gates. According to Flightradar24, there were 8,400 flights in the air over the northeast US at 2PM on March 7, 2020, and just 2,950 one month later on April 7. At JFK, foot traffic for the first week of March decreased nearly thirty percent versus the same period last year. The International Air Transport Association reports that North American carriers' demand is down by over half in March 2020 when compared with March 2019. The downward trend in the numbers of flights will continue as airlines further reduce operations.

There is almost no departure traffic on the roads at JFK Terminal 5. Planes sit parked away from gates, not departing anytime soon, either.

JFK Terminal 5 is a busy section of the airport out of which JetBlue, Hawaiian Airlines, Cape Air, Aer Lingus, and TAP Portugal airlines operate. Previously, the terminal was housed in a midcentury modern building designed by Eero Saarinen and completed in 1962. The structure, rehabbed as a trendy hotel and the only on-site lodging within the airport complex, is practically empty as airport travelers and architecture enthusiasts alike heed warnings to stay home.

The iconic TWA Flight Center, now the TWA Hotel, has multiple outdoor dining areas sitting empty.

Motor vehicle traffic at the airport is almost nonexistent. Where there once were major traffic jams just to enter the labyrinthine complex, barely any cars cruise the roads. A maze of elevated on and off-ramps wait unused for stretches of time when no cars pass. The airport has historically been plagued by frequent flight delays to its four runways. Now, the flights that do arrive and depart have no issue doing so on time. AirTrain monorails and MTA buses still run on schedule, but their ridership is down significantly.

A vehicle makes its way across a vacant tangle of airport roads, while parking structures sit empty.

Ben Solotaire, the participatory budget director for City Council member Stephen Levin and a candidate for NY City Council in District 33, believes that restoring trust in public transportation systems will be key to maintaining any environmental advances post-pandemic. His district spans the northwestern part of Brooklyn along the East River from Greenpoint to Brooklyn Heights, and is heavily impacted by commuter travel into Manhattan. Learnings from the pandemic shelter in place order can be used as a roadmap for a future drawdown. Moving forward, de-emphasizing the need for automobiles in urban and suburban life is key to building on any environmental progress.

"People do not want to stand in big metal tubes with other people right now, and of course, many fewer people have to travel," he said. "While congestion pricing will probably be delayed, we need to make sure it happens."

Many regional commuters are staying off the roads and working from home, and by doing so decreasing another major source of air pollution. All throughout New York City, motor vehicle traffic is drastically reduced, adding to the silver lining environmental impact of the pandemic.

An eight-lane toll plaza with no traffic.

Chelsea Yamada, an organizer with Transportation Alternatives, a nonprofit organization advocating for the deprioritization of automobiles on city streets, has noticed a shift in attitudes as residents hunker down in their own neighborhoods. People are questioning their former use of public spaces, and reckoning with limited pedestrian access. She believes this newfound popular interest should be harnessed to influence longterm change.

“A lot of New Yorkers are sticking much closer to their stomping grounds,” Yamada said. “If I'm desiring a more successful commute, now it's about, ‘What's the curb cut condition here? Am I able to cross the street safely?’ ”

“People are starting to inhabit those spaces where they live and work more deeply, and they're ready to interrogate the little things that are typically an oversight,” she said.

Permanent improvements could include encouraging essential travel only, expanding sidewalks, making public transportation more accessible, and opening new bicycle lanes. Earlier this month, the Open Streets project closed 40 miles of roadways to vehicle traffic for the use of pedestrians, with the goal of reducing density in public parks this summer.

There are fewer cars and more bicycles on the roads during lockdown. The city is closing some park-adjacent streets to motor vehicle traffic.

“It is key right now to open up streets to pedestrians and make bike lanes so that we get used to that infrastructure," Solotaire said.

When people are able to move about more freely in the future, companies may try to make up for lost time by appealing to a shared sense of deprivation.

“The automobile and aviation industries are going to attempt to capitalize on what people miss out on,” Yamada said. “They have the opportunity to try and exploit people's travel behaviors.”

Humans are creatures of habit, and if city residents can become accustomed to living more local lifestyles now, perhaps that fate can be avoided.

"We need to make that effort and not take any steps back," Solotaire said.