Skip to main content

Moovit: global public transit use down ‘up to 90%’

Public transit usage round the world has fallen off a cliff since coronavirus pandemic lockdown measures took hold, according to new research.
By Adam Hill April 3, 2020 Read time: 1 min
Public transit usage is down nearly 90% in Turin, says Moovit (© Wirestock | Dreamstime.com)

Mobility as a Service specialist Moovit has released a report tracking the decrease - relative to typical usage - from 15 January, prior to Covid-19 taking hold outside its epicentre in China.

As of 2 April, usage has fallen by nearly 90% in Italian cities such as Milan, Turin and Rome and in the Spanish capital Madrid – the two European countries so far hit hardest by the virus. Figures from half a dozen French cities show a fall-offs between 83% (Paris and Marseille) and 85% (Bordeaux).

The Portuguese cities of Porto (83%) and Lisbon (75%) have also seen significant drops.

In the US, ridership in San Francisco fell 76%, 72% in Seattle, 69% in New York and Boston, 64% in Los Angeles and 59% in Washington, DC.

Elsewhere in the world, the drops are revealing: public transport ridership is down 91% in Kuala Lumpur, 84% in Tokyo, Japan, 75% in Buenos Aires, Argentina, 67% in Sydney, Australia, and 53% in Hong Kong. In Singapore, it is holding up relatively well, falling just 34%.

In Brazil, where president Jair Bolsonaro’s approach to Covid-19 public health measures has been viewed by many other countries as too relaxed, ridership was down 62% in Sao Paulo and 59% in Rio de Janeiro.

Click here for more cities.

 

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • New South Wales budget ‘builds for the future’
    June 22, 2017
    Australia’s New South Wales Government has committed US$55 billion (A$72.7 billion) over the next four years to infrastructure investments, including US$31 billion (A$41.4 billion) for roads and transport.
  • Home based real time travel information drives reduction in car use
    January 20, 2012
    David Crawford investigates a new approach to discouraging car use - the 'kitchen as travel centre'. ITS technology working together with UK planning legislation is driving an innovative 'kitchen as travel centre' approach to home design which is boosting public transport as an alternative to car use. The combination is already proving powerful enough to assuage environmentalist opposition to major urban developments. It is also being seen as a way of delivering wider social and community benefits inside an
  • More public transit can cut city traffic deaths by 40%, says study
    September 4, 2018
    US regions with higher public transportation use can cut traffic fatality rates by 10-40%, according to a new figures from the American Public Transportation Association (APTA). APTA analysis of recent National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and Federal Transit Administration data shows that metropolitan areas with public transit use of more than 40 annual trips per capita have up to 40% of the traffic fatality rate of metro areas with fewer than 20 annual trips per capita. APTA and the Vision
  • Kapsch to provide radio infrastructure for Rio metro
    January 27, 2015
    Kapsch has been selected to provide the TETRA radio infrastructure for a new metro line in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Kapsch will provide four base stations, 30 in-train cab radios and 140 hand-held portable radios, as well as planning, design and deployment, to integration with existing communications systems on other metro lines. With 15 trains serving six major stations, the new Line 4 will take more than 2,000 cars off the road at peak times, helping to resolve some of the city’s worst traffic bott