City dwellers throughout the world are far from registering the same level of daily mobility as before the pandemic broke out. However, France is the one odd out. According to the latest Citymapper Mobility Index (CMI), Paris and Lyon tally up almost the same number of city trips as in the beginning of the year, while Asian and American metropolises are reporting lower levels of city mobility than before.
On September 15, Lyon demonstrated the highest score in the 40 cities surveyed with 98% of daily trips planned via the Citymapper app compared to "normal levels." On the same day, transports in Paris reached a level of 88%. After an all-time low in April, when Parisian transports were below 5% during lockdown compared to pre-lockdown levels, French capital dwellers 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 September 15.
The lowest scores came from the US where covid-19 cases continue to rise, many citizens are choosing to stay home. In Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle or Washington, planned trips didn't go beyond 20% of normal levels.
The two cities from the survey recording the least commuting activity on September 15 were Melbourne, Australia and Tokyo, Japan, which didn't even reach the symbolic milestone of 10%.
The Citymapper mobility index is calculated by comparing trips planned in the Citymapper app to a recent typical usage period, before various regional lockdowns. For instance, the typical period in France was between February 3 and March 1, 2020, and in both Hong Kong and Singapore, between December 2 and 22. The data mostly concerns public transports but also cycling, walking and cabs and is updated daily.
