William Atallah’s typical day used to begin with a 25-minute commute from Riverside Drive to downtown, where he works as a paralegal.

But amid state and local stay-at-home orders and mandates from many companies for their employees to work from home, Atallah has seen his commute drop to seven minutes when he is lucky with the traffic lights.

It’s afforded him a little extra time to sleep in and some more quality time with his cat Jinx. Atallah is filling up his gas tank half as much as his car has not needed to sit idling stuck in Austin’s normally notorious downtown traffic.

"I don’t like raving about it too much because it is kind of insensitive, but it is a silver lining," Atallah said.

Atallah’s experience is one shared by thousands of Texans who have been deemed essential workers or can’t work from home. The social distancing orders from local and state officials have had a myriad of effects, including massive layoffs, which has translated into fewer cars on the road.

Traffic counts from Texas Department of Transportation show a statewide decline indicating that on some days the amount of drivers on Texas’ highways has been cut in half since local and statewide stay home orders have been put in place.

Traffic counts have declined each week since social restrictions began being put in place in Texas’ urban centers. From March 28 to April 3, TxDOT saw vehicle trips down 41% statewide. In TxDOT’s 11-county district surrounding Austin, traffic has nearly been cut in half, according to a TxDOT analysis conducted for the American-Statesman.

Traffic congestion diminished

Austin’s 49% decline in traffic has been the sharpest of all urban areas, according to TxDOT. For example, Interstate 35 near Parmer Lane was seeing between 130,000 and 145,000 vehicles on a typical weekday in late February. Those numbers now have fallen to about 90,000, down as much as 38%, according to TxDOT.

The Houston area has seen a 39% drop-off. Dallas’ traffic is down 37%, and San Antonio’s use of highways is down 43%, TxDOT’s data showed.

For John Esparza, CEO of the Texas Trucking Association, the lack of vehicles on the road is translating to more money in the pockets of some truckers. Regional haulers in the Austin area typically are accustomed to delivering up to three loads of goods on a given day in the Austin area. But with traffic jams all but eliminated, some truckers are finding themselves able to drop off as many as five loads a day now.

"It’s a lot easier travel getting around Austin for the guy that is moving regionally," Esparza said. "Think about the UPS guy or the FedEx guy. They like this."

Another silver lining, Esparza said, is the likelihood that traffic fatalities will fall while people stay off roads. "A less congested highway is a safer highway," he said.

So far that appears true. According to TxDOT, traffic fatalities are down 6.5% so far this year when compared with the same point in time last year and down 15.2% when compared with 2018. However, it is unclear what, if any, effect coronavirus restrictions are having on those numbers.

While regional truckers and Austin commuters like Atallah might be finding a bright side in pandemic traffic, the lack of commuters is negatively affecting some government agencies.

Transit agencies hurt

Capital Metro has seen its ridership cut into a third, with ridership down about 66% on Friday. The authority is weathering a double whammy in revenue from a lack of bus fares due to plunging ridership as well as an expected decline in sales tax revenue that funds the majority of Cap Metro’s operations.

For now, Cap Metro has made all rides free and has suspended some of its commuter services. The agency hopes to bridge any financial gaps with $104 million from the federal stimulus package.

The Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority — the quasi-governmental agency that manages the Austin area’s toll roads — saw its toll revenue drop as social distancing guidelines were put in place. March was the first month since at least July 2016 that the number of toll transactions and toll revenue fell from the previous year, according to CTRMA’s March financial report.

The amount of tolls collected on MoPac fell off by half a million drivers from March 2019, a 45.7% decline. Tolls on 183A fell by 21.2%.

"I think this is going to have a huge impact," CTRMA Board Chairman Bobby Jenkins said at the board’s March 25 meeting. "If all the free lanes are open, there’s no need to take the toll lanes."

However, CTRMA Executive Director Mike Heiligenstein said at the same meeting that the toll authority has a reserve fund with more than $100 million, capable of funding the agency for an entire year. "We are paring our expenses," Heiligenstein said. "We are looking at things that are nonessential."

"We would have that fund ... for a situation like this," he said. "Of course, who would have expected this."

Esparza, the head of the trucking association, said West Texas truckers also are bearing some of the brunt from the lack of people using cars. Oil and gas hauling are a large sector of trucking in Texas. With the oil market cratering, many West Texas rigs are shutting down.

"This isn’t a hurricane affecting the Gulf Coast for the next 6 days," Esparza said. "We are not in recovery mode yet. The disaster is still here."

The average gas price was down to $1.62 a gallon in Austin as of Friday, according to AAA, which tracks gas prices across the country. On March 12, the average was $1.99 a gallon in Austin.

Even Atallah, who has continued to travel daily to and from downtown, is filling up less at the pump.

"I’m definitely saving on gas," Atallah said. "I’m doing pretty good there."

CORONAVIRUS IN TEXAS: What we know, latest updates