Reduced Traffic During 'Stay-At-Home' Saved Indiana Money

Indiana saw a reduction in daily traffic volume of as much as 57 percent during the “Stay-At-Home” period.

And while traffic is returning to normal, that earlier reduction helped save the state millions of dollars.

The number of motorists on Hoosier roadways fell the most on weekends during the “Stay-At-Home” order. Weekday traffic was 30 to 40 percent lower than usual during April.

Join the conversation and sign up for the Indiana 2020 Two-Way. Text "elections" to 73224. Your comments and questions in response to our weekly text help us find the answers you need on COVID-19 and the 2020 election.

And Indiana Department of Transportation Commissioner Joe McGuinness says that reduction allowed the state to adjust construction schedules, extending work hours – such as on a shutdown of Interstate-70 in Indianapolis.

“It has reduced this project timeline by three months and saved Hoosiers millions of dollars just on this one project,” McGuinness says.

Reduced traffic has also had a safety impact. State Police Superintendent Doug Carter says there were almost 22,000 fewer accidents year-to-date than the same period in 2019. But he urges caution as traffic returns to normal, particularly in work zones.

Contact Brandon at bsmith@ipbs.org or follow him on Twitter at @brandonjsmith5.