Apple Maps Data Shows COVID-19 Impact: Transit Down 72%, Walking Down 60%, Driving Down 56%

We are walking, driving, and taking transit a lot less today than we did BC: Before Coronavirus.

Especially taking transit.

Apple released a massive anonymized dataset today on mapping requests in Apple Maps showing travel trends in 153 countries and 242 cities. Anyone can download the data and check the trends, so I did too. Between Monday January 13 and Monday April 6, we’re taking 72% fewer trips by bus, train, or subway. We’re walking 60% less, and driving our cars 56% less.

At least when we need a map to get there.

It’s important to note that these are trips that use Apple Maps. In other words, they don’t include trips to the local grocery store, because you’re unlikely to need to map out directions for that.

It’s also important to note that Apple does not associate requests for directions with your Apple ID, the company says, and does not keep a record of where people have been. (Your iPhone does, but that is encrypted, locally stored, and cannot be read by Apple.)

Spain shows the absolute lowest levels for both transit and walking.

Transit is being used in Spain at only 8.5% of before Coronavirus levels, and walking is at just 9.6%. Driving is at about 16.6%. In France, another country hit hard by Coronavirus, transit usage is at 12.6% of pre-Coronavirus levels, while walking is at 14.9%.

The United States has not been shut down as hard. Transit is down to 24.7% of pre-Coronavirus levels. Walking is at 46.9%. And driving is at 53.7%. Again, those numbers only represent trips where someone needed a map, so actual driving behavior may differ.

Other countries with hard shutdowns, by the data, include Italy at 9.7% as much transit usage, New Zealand, Ireland, and Portugal.

Interestingly, Sweden, which has not shut down the economy nearly as hard as the rest of the world, is seeing driving levels at 95.4% of normal, walking at 83.9%, and transit at 59.9%. In Japan, driving is still at 87.3% of normal levels, and in Taiwan it’s at 83%.