Washington State experienced significant shifts in traffic and transportation usage across all modes following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in mid-March 2020. In response to state initiatives aimed at curbing the virus’s spread, the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) launched a comprehensive COVID-19 Multimodal Transportation System Performance Dashboard. This dashboard provided crucial insights into the evolving transportation landscape, reflecting changes in highway traffic, toll system usage, and ridership on ferries, transit, and passenger rail.
The WSDOT traffic dashboard served as a vital tool for understanding the pandemic’s impact on various aspects of transportation, extending beyond just traffic flow to include freight movement, safety metrics, and aviation statistics. While the dashboard is no longer actively updated since July 31, 2022, it remains available as an archive of transportation data collected throughout the pandemic period.
Data within the dashboard was meticulously gathered from several key sources, including WSDOT’s own traffic information systems, the Washington State Transit Association, and the Port of Seattle (Seattle-Tacoma International Airport). This collaborative approach ensured a holistic view of transportation trends across the state. Local agencies were also encouraged to contribute their data to further enrich the dashboard’s comprehensiveness.
To understand the data presented, it’s important to note that a baseline was established using volume numbers from the same weekday and month of the year prior to the pandemic (March 2019 to February 2020). This baseline allowed for accurate comparisons and highlighted the dramatic changes in transportation patterns. It’s also worth noting that holiday periods in the baseline year could create apparent surges in percentage change during comparable holiday weeks in 2020, as seen with July 4th and Christmas.
For those seeking detailed information on specific transportation sectors during the COVID-19 period, the archived dashboard offers access to sections dedicated to:
- State Highways
- Freight
- Toll Facilities
- Active Transportation
- Ferries
- Safety
- Transit
- Aviation
- Passenger Rail
- County-level Data
Disclaimer: It is important to remember that the data within the archived COVID-19 dashboard is preliminary and should be used for informational purposes, providing a valuable historical record of Washington State Department Of Transportation Traffic and broader transportation trends during an unprecedented period.
