How Is Covid-19 Impacting Life in Your City?

[mrnyc]

Originally Posted by Acajack

Every couple of days we get news reports about COVID "coming back" in country X, Y or Z, but I don't have a full sense of what's being done in these places in response to upticks in cases.

Though I did hear this week that Austria was "locking down" again but I like most people have no idea what that means? Schools closed? Kids wearing masks in class? In-dining in restaurants verboten? Curfews? Essential shopping only?

Without more details (yes I know I could find them, but who does this?), it's impossible to know if their "lockdown" is any worse than the current status quo where we are.

The result for most us is just more COVID anxiety, like a sword of Damocles hanging over heads.

yep the remaining legit media and the rest of the so-called media run with it in all directions. this is what we get when no one will pay for moderated news anymore, for better and for worse.

[hauntedheadnc]

My therapist's office is still requiring masks, so I took a fresh one from the place where we keep them hanging in our kitchen before I headed off to my appointment. It smells like bacon, so I'm sitting in this waiting room breathing deep in my cloth mask and loving it.

[dchan]

I went out last night to an Alsatian-French restaurant in UES, NYC. On the one hand, the indoor dining area became almost full starting around 7pm. And there were some diners in the outdoor seating areas, which looked quite comfortable and welcoming under the orange heat lamps. On the other hand, the Vietnamese restaurant across the street, which was fairly popular pre-pandemic, was still running exclusively takeout and delivery.

I stayed in the UES last night, and squeezed into the crowded Q train around 8:30 this morning. That's an experience I haven't encountered for a while, though can't say I miss it (especially the morning Q train from the UES).

[mrnyc]

^ mta remains in the 30s-40s% per pandemic ridership levels across the week these days.

https://new.mta.info/coronavirus/ridership

the real problem i notice, as a daily rider, is inconsistency and longer waits for trains all week long.

[10023]

Originally Posted by Acajack

Every couple of days we get news reports about COVID "coming back" in country X, Y or Z, but I don't have a full sense of what's being done in these places in response to upticks in cases.

Though I did hear this week that Austria was "locking down" again but I like most people have no idea what that means? Schools closed? Kids wearing masks in class? In-dining in restaurants verboten? Curfews? Essential shopping only?

Without more details (yes I know I could find them, but who does this?), it's impossible to know if their "lockdown" is any worse than the current status quo where we are.

The result for most us is just more COVID anxiety, like a sword of Damocles hanging over heads.

Austria is doing a lockdown for unvaccinated people. Presumably this means that either every business has to check vaccination status, or police are just randomly stopping people, or both. Either way it sounds like a bad look for Hitler’s home country. Deine Papieren bitte!

[dchan]

Originally Posted by mrnyc

^ mta remains in the 30s-40s% per pandemic ridership levels across the week these days.

https://new.mta.info/coronavirus/ridership

the real problem i notice, as a daily rider, is inconsistency and longer waits for trains all week long.

Yep, and train driver and conductor staffing issues are also causing scheduled trains to be cancelled. Overall, trains remain lightly occupied even with school in session. They were mostly empty during the summer. Roads are a nightmare, and the bus I used to take to the subway is no longer a viable option because of road traffic.

[twister244]

So, coming back to the US next week..... I notice the requirements for entry are the following:
1 - If you are a US citizen, you don't provide proof of vaccination, but need to provide a negative Covid test.
2 - If you aren't a US citizen, you need to provide both proof of vaccination AND a negative Covid test.

Yep, the world has still lost its mind. None of that makes any sense from a scientific perspective......

Great to see every country still has slightly different requirements making travel a continued pain in the ass.

[Crawford]

Originally Posted by mrnyc

^ mta remains in the 30s-40s% per pandemic ridership levels across the week these days.

https://new.mta.info/coronavirus/ridership

the real problem i notice, as a daily rider, is inconsistency and longer waits for trains all week long.

No, the MTA subway is at 70% ridership, the MTA bus is at 85% ridership and the MTA railroads are at 55% ridership.

There are no cuts to weekday service. The one major pandemic-era service change is no express trains on certain routes. LIRR and Metro North cut most of their peak rush hour trains, but are signaling that some will shortly be restored.

Weekend MTA ridership is at 100% of pre-pandemic levels, suggesting that the ridership dip is almost entirely WFH (and probably, in core areas, drop-off of intl. visitor counts). So MTA ridership won't match pre-pandemic weekday counts until full WFH drops significantly, and that won't be for a while.

Most transit agencies are saying 2025 or so for matching pre-pandemic counts. I think it might be a bit sooner. Intl. travel will probably have a full rebound by 2023-24, and set work norms will probably be established by then.

[Crawford]

Originally Posted by twister244

So, coming back to the US next week..... I notice the requirements for entry are the following:
1 - If you are a US citizen, you don't provide proof of vaccination, but need to provide a negative Covid test.
2 - If you aren't a US citizen, you need to provide both proof of vaccination AND a negative Covid test.

Yep, the world has still lost its mind. None of that makes any sense from a scientific perspective......

It makes plenty of sense. Citizens have different entry rules than non-citizens. Foreign nationals entering a sovereign nation have a higher burden of entry.

[Crawford]

Originally Posted by dchan

Roads are a nightmare, and the bus I used to take to the subway is no longer a viable option because of road traffic.

Which is why the MTA is rolling out dozens of bus-only lanes, with traffic cameras or barriers.

Basically every major bus route in the city will eventually use a bus lane.

[mrnyc]

Originally Posted by Crawford

No, the MTA subway is at 70% ridership, the MTA bus is at 85% ridership and the MTA railroads are at 55% ridership.

There are no cuts to weekday service. The one major pandemic-era service change is no express trains on certain routes. LIRR and Metro North cut most of their peak rush hour trains, but are signaling that some will shortly be restored.

Weekend MTA ridership is at 100% of pre-pandemic levels, suggesting that the ridership dip is almost entirely WFH (and probably, in core areas, drop-off of intl. visitor counts). So MTA ridership won't match pre-pandemic weekday counts until full WFH drops significantly, and that won't be for a while.

Most transit agencies are saying 2025 or so for matching pre-pandemic counts. I think it might be a bit sooner. Intl. travel will probably have a full rebound by 2023-24, and set work norms will probably be established by then.

yes, i meant subway ridership remains down 30s-40% vs pre-pandemic. the latest is down 44.7% this past monday. that's more than just wfh.

[dktshb]

In SF muni is picking up a bit, but the last statistics I see are for June 2021 where it was 1/4 of normal. There still are fewer trains but they are filling up. The bus I ride (37) is always pretty much empty except for about a half dozen people... It used to be standing room only. Car traffic is back to normal. I guess people are too afraid to take transit, which is unfortunate and stupid.

I will say there was quite an uptick of new commuters and people downtown as of November 1st.

[iheartthed]

The train I was on this morning was packed, but it also seems like service might have been slowed on my line.

[Pedestrian]

Originally Posted by dktshb

people are too afraid to take transit, which is unfortunate and stupid.

You go ahead and be the canary in that coal mine.

[suburbanite]

Transit is picking back up slowly but surely. If you're vaccinated, not a member of an at-risk demographic, and live in a city where statistically maybe one person in your train car is unvaccinated, your risk of getting sick is low, and you're risk of dying is so low that you should probably be more worried about being run over by the train.

[Pedestrian]

Originally Posted by suburbanite

Transit is picking back up slowly but surely. If you're vaccinated, not a member of an at-risk demographic, and live in a city where statistically maybe one person in your train car is unvaccinated, your risk of getting sick is low, and you're risk of dying is so low that you should probably be more worried about being run over by the train.

In most cities the demographic that rides transit probably has a higher rate of covid than the city as a whole. And personally I see no reason to take the risk. The inside of a train car (or bus) is like any closed space. I avoid those when not necessary and Uber makes trains and busses unnecessary.

[austlar1]

Originally Posted by suburbanite

Transit is picking back up slowly but surely. If you're vaccinated, not a member of an at-risk demographic, and live in a city where statistically maybe one person in your train car is unvaccinated, your risk of getting sick is low, and you're risk of dying is so low that you should probably be more worried about being run over by the train.

Where is this magic city where only one transit rider per train car is likely to be un-vaccinated?

[suburbanite]

Originally Posted by Pedestrian

In most cities the demographic that rides transit probably has a higher rate of covid than the city as a whole. And personally I see no reason to take the risk. The inside of a train car (or bus) is like any closed space. I avoid those when not necessary and Uber makes trains and busses unnecessary.

I mean once the new treatment comes out, even your demographic probably has a greater risk of getting into a serious accident with an uber driver that you can only vet through a 5-star rating system. You are undoubtedly in the top percentile of covid cautiousness though (which is your choice and a perfectly okay decision). I'm certain there will be millions of willing "canaries" before you give public transit the all clear.

[suburbanite]

Originally Posted by austlar1

Where is this magic city where only one transit rider per train car is likely to be un-vaccinated?

Toronto is probably pretty close given the age of the average rider, vaccination rates of 95%+ in the 18-35 demographic, and an average of ~20 people per car on a normal day.

[mrnyc]

Originally Posted by suburbanite

Toronto is probably pretty close given the age of the average rider, vaccination rates of 95%+ in the 18-35 demographic, and an average of ~20 people per car on a normal day.

i would seriously doubt its that high on trains and busses, given homeless and the handful of neanderthal mouth breathers you find anywhere. it's not just the bright and able who use public transit.

but you are right, with new treatment, rising vaxxed and children vax, it will be behind us soon.