Jim Cameron

In the post-COVID-19 world (whenever that may be) commuters will be asking themselves one question:  Is this trip really necessary?

Sure, when the quarantining is lifted and the life-threatening virus seems to have passed (at least until it returns next fall), we may look forward to getting back on the train and on the crowded highways.

But the weeks of not commuting have changed our attitudes toward work and the necessity of travel.  Going forward, I think we will be making that daily trek a lot less often and that will have a profound effect on transportation.

Sure, plumbers can’t telecommute, but knowledge workers can.  And they make up a large portion of southern Connecticut’s population.  They’ve been working from home just fine in recent weeks.  So they’ll be asking themselves (and their employers) if a daily schlep into their New York City, New Haven or Hartford office is really necessary, or if they can continue to work from home two or three days a week.

Being self-employed, I have worked from my home office for over 35 years.  I sure don’t miss the daily grind, nor the office politics, and love my work so I end up doing it six or seven days a week: it’s not a job but a passion.

When I started my consultancy I didn’t have a computer or even a fax machine. Today, the average home has as much communications gear as at the office.  We don’t need a physical presence “at work” to be working.

We will all be wearing face masks for many months to come any time we leave our homes.  And work meetings won’t involve shaking hands or exchanging business cards.  Business travel?  Not anytime soon.

I have a neighbor who used to make almost weekly flights to London for a single meeting or business luncheon.  That was nuts before COVID-19 and is certainly unnecessary now.

So in an ironic way, this virus might actually be a blessing for commuters.

Our trains and highways used to be crowded because we all bought into an outdated social construct that “work” was something we did from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, at an office.  Rush hours were called “peak periods,” just like when the virus was at its worst.

Post-COVID-19, we can flatten that commuting curve on the roads and rails.

Ridership on Metro-North need not peak in rush hours if it can be spread out over the hours or days.  And I-95 need not be a parking lot if people are working from home or staggering their hours.

Parking won’t be as much of an issue if demand drops.  And we’ve already seen New Yorkers opting for walking or bicycling instead of taking the bus or subway.

Less traffic should mean faster delivery times for trucks and shorter commutes for those who must drive.  And we’ll all be burning less fuel, cleaning our air.

Fewer cars on the road should mean a reduction in traffic accidents.  Driving less, our car insurance premiums should go down.

If we’re not wasting time commuting, we’ll have more time for our families, for volunteer work and our personal interests (and health-giving sleep.)

As horrendous as this virus has been, it’s given us all a chance to rethink our priorities.  Life is too short to work at a job you don’t like or waste hours a day getting there.

Post-COVID-19 will be a new world for commuters.

Posted with permission of Hearst CT Media.

About the author: Jim Cameron is founder of The Commuter Action Group, and a member of the Darien RTM.  The opinions expressed in this column are only his own. You can reach him at CommuterActionGroup@gmail.com  For a full collection of  “Talking Transportation” columns, visit www.talkingtransportation.blogspot.com.

Jim Cameron

I’ve always been fascinated by the airline business.  Even though I’m not a great flyer, the whole idea of moving hundreds of people from point A to point B in a metal tube has astounded me.

I even remember the good old days of “Youth Standby” flights in the 1960’s when we could get a 50 percent fare discount just by helping fill empty seats.  But until recently the planes have been chock-a-block full and the airlines had actually been making money.

Of course, after 9/11 all that changed. 

With increased TSA security and a major economic hit, people were afraid (or unable) to fly.  I remember one commentator calling the aftermath to 9/11 being like an example of product tampering, akin to putting poison in Tylenol bottles.

Now, all that has changed, thanks to COVID-19.

Airlines are curtailing service, and in some cases shutting down completely, as people “shelter in place.”  That’s meant tens of thousands of layoffs of already underpaid airline employees.

But when we get through all this … and we will … what’s the long-term prospect for the airline business?

Will business people, the bread and butter of the airlines (because they pay the highest fares), return to the skies or find that teleconferencing is enough to make deals and stay in touch with clients?

Leisure travelers may still be there.  You can’t telecommute to Aruba.  And when the pandemic has passed, there will doubtless be such pent-up demand to get a change of scenery that will all want to get back on the road … at least if we have the money.

Even before COVID-19, airlines were mothballing their bigger, older planes.  The super-jumbo, double-decker A-380 was just too big and fuel-inefficient to keep flying on most routes (which is why it was never adopted by a US airline.)

The airline business is capital intensive (really expensive to run) and operates on very thin profit margins.  With low fares, you really had to pack a plane to make any money.  And factoring in inflation, airfares (before the virus) were the lowest since 1995.

Going forward, will people really want to sit for hours, three-abreast, with 200+ strangers, sharing their air and whatever else, when we know of recent cases of contagious passengers flying, even on smaller jets?

And you thought that fellow passenger on your last flight who insisted on sanitizing her seatback tray was a germophobe?  You ain’t seen nothing yet.

Will people who survive the virus, and most of us will, still be contagious?  Will doctors have to give us a “COVID CARD” after we are “clear” that we will need to show when we travel or attend large events?

And most importantly, will the airlines themselves survive?  The government’s stimulus package sets aside $25 billion for the ailing carriers.  And Uncle Sam may turn those loans into grants in return for an equity stake in the airlines.

The big airlines will probably get through all this, but some small carriers are already closing up shop.  The airports themselves are also hurting, their runways stuffed with grounded jets parked for the duration.

As difficult as these times may be for us, sheltering in place for the airlines and their employees is much, much worse.

Posted with permission of Hearst CT Media.

About the author: Jim Cameron is founder of The Commuter Action Group, and a member of the Darien RTM.  The opinions expressed in this column are only his own. You can reach him at CommuterActionGroup@gmail.com  For a full collection of  “Talking Transportation” columns, visit www.talkingtransportation.blogspot.com.

Jim Cameron

“Buckle up folks.  There’s some bumpy air ahead”, said the pilot on a recent flight.  No need to remind me; my seatbelt is always fastened as “bumpy air”… a euphemism for air turbulence … is my worst fear in flying. It’s the whole “fear of death” thing.

Intellectually I know that modern aircraft can survive all manner of stress from changing or violent winds, but can I?  I’ve been on flights where our aircraft plummeted hundreds of feet without notice, sending passengers, their drinks and laptops flying.  There’s not much you can do in a situation like that except, hang on,  breathe deeply and pray.

Thanks to climate change there are dire predictions that in-flight turbulence is getting worse, increasing by several hundred percent in some areas.  Even today severe air turbulence is thought to cost airlines $200 million a year and is the single biggest cause of passenger injuries.

According to the FAA there were 27 passengers and crew injured by turbulence in 2015.  In 2016 that number was 42.  And with more and more people flying, those numbers will climb.

Only a few years ago, United Airlines offered passengers an in-flight audio channel where they could listen to air traffic control (ATC) handling their and other flights.  That was my favorite channel as I heard our flight being cleared to higher altitudes, warned about other aircraft and being guided across the country. It was reassuring to hear the professionalism of the flight crew and ATC.  But the channel was only available at the pilot’s discretion. And when it was turned off mid-flight, I always knew something nasty was coming our way.

Pilots regularly ask ATC for “ride reports” from other aircraft at the same altitude and flight path, always seeking the smoothest flight.  But sometimes the turbulence is unexpected, the so-called “clear air turbulence.”  You can be cruising along at 35,000 feet when, without notice, you get slammed.

On a Turkish Airlines flight to JFK last March, the 777 jetliner encountered clear air turbulence over Maine that sent everything flying.  The terror lasted about 10 minutes and when the plane finally landed, 30 passengers were taken to hospital.

That’s why you should always keep your seatbelt fastened so if the plane drops, you don’t crash into the ceiling.

Now there’s new technology that may help us all have a smoother flight.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) is testing an automatic tracking and reporting system to warn flights of “bumpy air.”  So far 15 major airlines are sharing data in the test phase of the program.

Their planes are equipped with a black box measuring changes in the flight’s speed and tilt eight times each second.  That data is transmitted to the ground and within 30 seconds, flights in the area can be warned of trouble ahead.

So far the participating airlines are generating 115,000 reports a day to the IATA Turbulence Aware system.  The system will be most valuable on long, overseas routes where there are fewer aircraft flying the same corridor.

The Turbulence Aware system should be fully operational this year when airlines will have installed the gear on most of their planes.  American Airlines alone hopes to have 800 airliners gathering and reporting data in the coming months.

Meantime … buckle up, friends!  There’s bumpy air ahead.

Posted with permission of Hearst CT Media.

About the author: Jim Cameron is founder of The Commuter Action Group, and a member of the Darien RTM.  The opinions expressed in this column are only his own. You can reach him at CommuterActionGroup@gmail.com  For a full collection of  “Talking Transportation” columns, visit www.talkingtransportation.blogspot.com