Urban mobility in France nearly back to pre-COVID-19 levels

City journeys in Tokyo are down compared to pre-COVID-19 pandemic levels. Image: IStock/Fiers.

City dwellers throughout the world are far from registering the same level of daily mobility as before the COVID-19 pandemic broke out. However, France is the odd one out. According to the latest Citymapper Mobility Index (CMI), Paris and Lyon tallied up almost the same number of city trips as in the beginning of 2020, while Asian and American metropolises are reporting lower levels of city mobility than before.

Lyon demonstrated last Sept. 15 the highest score in the 40 cities surveyed with 98% of daily trips planned via the Citymapper application compared to “normal levels.” On the same day, public transport in Paris reached a level of 88%. After an all-time low in April when transportation in Paris was below 5% during the lockdown compared to pre-lockdown levels, Parisians seem to have regained confidence and are planning more trips on the transport app.

The two French cities are the only ones in such a case in the survey along with Saint Petersburg (92%) and Moscow (83%) in Russia. Every other city surveyed counted less than 70% of pre-pandemic levels for city trips on Sept. 15.

The lowest scores came from the United States; as COVID-19 cases continue to rise, many Americans are choosing to stay home. In Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle and Washington, planned trips didn’t go beyond 20% of normal levels.

The two cities from the survey recording the least commuting activity on Sept. 15 were Melbourne, Australia and Tokyo, Japan, which did not even reach the milestone of 10%.

The Citymapper Mobility Index is calculated by comparing trips planned in the Citymapper application to a recent typical usage period, before various regional lockdowns. For instance, the typical period in France was between Feb. 3 and March 1, 2020, and between Dec. 2 and 22 in Hong Kong and Singapore. The data, which is updated daily, mostly concerns public transportation, but also includes cycling, walking and taxi cabs. CC

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