SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS RADIO) – On top of potential power outages with much of the Bay Area under an Excessive Heat Watch on Friday, the region will also be under its first Spare the Air Alert for smog of the year.
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The Bay Area Air Quality Management District on Thursday issued the alert, with temperatures forecast as high as 103 degrees and cars' exhaust expected to create higher smog concentrations.
Air District officials projected unhealthy air quality for sensitive groups in the inland East Bay and much of the South Bay, with officials opening up 12 cooling centers across Santa Clara County.
Under Environmental Protection Agency guidance, sensitive groups in the Bay Area include children, older adults, people with heart or lung disease, diabetes and residents of lower socioeconomic status. Sensitive groups should avoid strenuous outdoor exercise, while all Bay Area residents are encouraged to limit outdoor activities.
Air District officials also recommended residents to limit their driving and work from home, if possible. Based on regional traffic data, much of the Bay Area still seems to be telecommuting, even though officials warned of "traffic ramping up to pre-pandemic levels" in a press release.
Although a number of offices throughout the Bay Area have resumed in-person work on at least a part-time basis, bridge crossings haven’t rebounded to levels reached before the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Bay Bridge only had about 100,000 more crossings last month (3.7 million) than the previous May – before many offices started working in person again – and total crossings on the Antioch, Benicia-Martinez, Carquinez, Dumbarton, Richmond-San Rafael and San Mateo-Hayward bridges were down 1.2 million this May from May 2019 (8.2 million), according to Metropolitan Transportation Commission data.
BART ridership, on the other hand, more than doubled last month over May 2021, with an average of 132,161 riders exiting stations on weekdays. Whether or not those averages increase as Spare the Air season begins in earnest remains to be seen.
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