Posted 4 years ago in Trending
1 MIN READ - As Chicagoans continue to stay home in an effort to curb the transmission of COVID-19, the Chicago Loop is feeling the impact. Chicago Loop Alliance is monitoring pedestrian activity, closures, and cancellations during this time. Find a list of Loop impacts online.
Based on data from Chicago Loop Alliance’s pedestrian counters, footfall in the Loop declined by 82 percent for the week of April 12 compared to the same week in 2019. The chart below shows weekly footfall for the 15th week of the years from 2016-20 (in 2020, this was April 6-12).
“There’s no doubt that activity across the city is declining, but when you have a neighborhood like the Loop, with 370,000 workers and tens of millions of annual visitors but only 20,000 residents, a stay at home order hits hard,” said Chicago Loop Alliance President and CEO Michael Edwards. “While we are certainly very concerned about the impacts COVID-19 is having on the Loop, we understand the most important thing right now is staying home and saving lives. We are eager to welcome our workers and visitors back to downtown Chicago, and the more we cooperate and come together as a city, the sooner that will be.”
Chicago Loop Alliance’s pedestrian counters, by the U.K.-based company Springboard, track pedestrian activity in certain parts of the Loop. Eighteen counters are located on the east and west sides of State Street from Wacker to Ida B. Wells drives. Additional counters are at Michigan and Wacker, Michigan and Washington, and in the Pedway. The devices do not count the number of unique pedestrians who walk down the street each day, but rather pedestrian impressions, meaning a count is taken at every device someone walks past.
