The Bay Area Air Quality Management District‘s Spare the Air season started Monday, but the district said record-low numbers of cars on the region’s roads due to COVID-19-related shelter-in-place orders have led to good air quality throughout the area.

According to the air district, there has been a reduction in traffic by about 70 percent since the shelter orders initially went into effect in March, and that has led to a resulting drop in various pollutants of 20 percent or more.

Continue reading for free

Sign in to read this story and receive the weekly roundup in your inbox.

Or

Terms & Conditions

Success! Your account was created and you’re signed in.
Please visit My Account to manage your account.

Dan McMenamin is the managing editor at Bay City News, directing daily news coverage of the 12-county greater Bay Area. He has worked for BCN since 2008 and has been managing editor since 2014 after previously serving as BCN’s San Francisco bureau reporter. A UC Davis graduate, he came to BCN after working for a newspaper and nonprofit in the Davis area. He handles staffing, including coaching of our interns, day-to-day coverage decisions and management of the newswire.