Variation in the Impact of New York on Pause on Traffic Congestion by Racialized Economic Segregation and Environmental Burden
Abstract During the 2019 coronavirus pandemic, stay‐at‐home policies such as New York's (NY) NY on Pause dramatically reduced traffic congestion. Despite high traffic burden in NY's environmental justice communities, this reduction has not been evaluated through an environmental justice le...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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American Geophysical Union (AGU)
2024-12-01
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| Series: | GeoHealth |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1029/2024GH001050 |
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| author | Jenni A. Shearston Roheeni Saxena Joan A. Casey Marianthi‐Anna Kioumourtzoglou Markus Hilpert |
| author_facet | Jenni A. Shearston Roheeni Saxena Joan A. Casey Marianthi‐Anna Kioumourtzoglou Markus Hilpert |
| author_sort | Jenni A. Shearston |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract During the 2019 coronavirus pandemic, stay‐at‐home policies such as New York's (NY) NY on Pause dramatically reduced traffic congestion. Despite high traffic burden in NY's environmental justice communities, this reduction has not been evaluated through an environmental justice lens—our objective in this analysis. We obtained census tract‐level traffic congestion data from Google traffic maps hourly for 2018–2020. We defined congestion as the percent of streets in a census tract with heavy traffic (red‐ or maroon‐color). We used the Index of Concentration at the Extremes (ICE) to measure racialized economic segregation and the CDC's Environmental Justice Index (EJI) as a measure of combined environmental, social, and chronic disease burden. We divided census tracts into quintiles of ICE and EJI and used linear mixed models stratified by ICE and EJI quintile in an interrupted time series design. Prior to NY on Pause, less marginalized and burdened census tracts (Q5) tended to have higher levels of traffic congestion; during NY on Pause, this trend reversed. For both ICE and EJI, more marginalized and burdened (Q1–Q2 vs. Q4–Q5) tracts had smaller absolute decreases in percent traffic congestion. For example, percent traffic congestion in ICE Q5 decreased by 7.8% (% change: −36.6%), but in Q1, it decreased by 4.2% (% change: −51.7%). NY on Pause, while protecting residents during COVID‐19, may have resulted in inequitable reductions in traffic congestion. It is critical that such inequities are measured and acknowledged so that future policies to reduce traffic congestion and respond to pandemics can enhance equity. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-7c7ccde89ab74efc8a6f0835d205dfc3 |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 2471-1403 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-12-01 |
| publisher | American Geophysical Union (AGU) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | GeoHealth |
| spelling | doaj-art-7c7ccde89ab74efc8a6f0835d205dfc32025-08-20T02:00:08ZengAmerican Geophysical Union (AGU)GeoHealth2471-14032024-12-01812n/an/a10.1029/2024GH001050Variation in the Impact of New York on Pause on Traffic Congestion by Racialized Economic Segregation and Environmental BurdenJenni A. Shearston0Roheeni Saxena1Joan A. Casey2Marianthi‐Anna Kioumourtzoglou3Markus Hilpert4Department of Environmental Health Sciences Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health New York NY USADepartment of Environmental Health Sciences Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health New York NY USADepartment of Environmental Health Sciences Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health New York NY USADepartment of Environmental Health Sciences Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health New York NY USADepartment of Environmental Health Sciences Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health New York NY USAAbstract During the 2019 coronavirus pandemic, stay‐at‐home policies such as New York's (NY) NY on Pause dramatically reduced traffic congestion. Despite high traffic burden in NY's environmental justice communities, this reduction has not been evaluated through an environmental justice lens—our objective in this analysis. We obtained census tract‐level traffic congestion data from Google traffic maps hourly for 2018–2020. We defined congestion as the percent of streets in a census tract with heavy traffic (red‐ or maroon‐color). We used the Index of Concentration at the Extremes (ICE) to measure racialized economic segregation and the CDC's Environmental Justice Index (EJI) as a measure of combined environmental, social, and chronic disease burden. We divided census tracts into quintiles of ICE and EJI and used linear mixed models stratified by ICE and EJI quintile in an interrupted time series design. Prior to NY on Pause, less marginalized and burdened census tracts (Q5) tended to have higher levels of traffic congestion; during NY on Pause, this trend reversed. For both ICE and EJI, more marginalized and burdened (Q1–Q2 vs. Q4–Q5) tracts had smaller absolute decreases in percent traffic congestion. For example, percent traffic congestion in ICE Q5 decreased by 7.8% (% change: −36.6%), but in Q1, it decreased by 4.2% (% change: −51.7%). NY on Pause, while protecting residents during COVID‐19, may have resulted in inequitable reductions in traffic congestion. It is critical that such inequities are measured and acknowledged so that future policies to reduce traffic congestion and respond to pandemics can enhance equity.https://doi.org/10.1029/2024GH001050legislation and regulationspollution: urban and regionalenvironmental justicetraffic congestionNew YorkCOVID‐19 |
| spellingShingle | Jenni A. Shearston Roheeni Saxena Joan A. Casey Marianthi‐Anna Kioumourtzoglou Markus Hilpert Variation in the Impact of New York on Pause on Traffic Congestion by Racialized Economic Segregation and Environmental Burden GeoHealth legislation and regulations pollution: urban and regional environmental justice traffic congestion New York COVID‐19 |
| title | Variation in the Impact of New York on Pause on Traffic Congestion by Racialized Economic Segregation and Environmental Burden |
| title_full | Variation in the Impact of New York on Pause on Traffic Congestion by Racialized Economic Segregation and Environmental Burden |
| title_fullStr | Variation in the Impact of New York on Pause on Traffic Congestion by Racialized Economic Segregation and Environmental Burden |
| title_full_unstemmed | Variation in the Impact of New York on Pause on Traffic Congestion by Racialized Economic Segregation and Environmental Burden |
| title_short | Variation in the Impact of New York on Pause on Traffic Congestion by Racialized Economic Segregation and Environmental Burden |
| title_sort | variation in the impact of new york on pause on traffic congestion by racialized economic segregation and environmental burden |
| topic | legislation and regulations pollution: urban and regional environmental justice traffic congestion New York COVID‐19 |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1029/2024GH001050 |
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