A recent study showed that 75% of people have stopped using public transport because they were concerned about catching the coronavirus, and how the 9.2 million people who commute to work, is proving to be a headache for the government.
According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), more than 7 in 10 (71%) Australians primarily use a passenger vehicle, with almost 2 in 3 doing so by private car. As a result, experts say traffic congestion could be even worse post-COVID-19, with the Grattan Institute’s Marion Terrill stating that public transport would also be much harder to use until a vaccination was developed.
Car sharing platforms are reporting unusually high usage, despite continued restrictions and less cars on the road – most likely due to public fears of catching the virus on public transport.
With schools set to start opening next week, and many people returning to work, there are concerns that this could lead to a big increase in traffic congestion.
Car Next Door CEO Will Davies says national bookings for member cars, which were running at 20,000 monthly before the virus hit, had halved by mid-April – but bookings are now rising 20 per cent weekly, with the group expecting 12,000-14,000 bookings in May.
“Even before the restrictions were loosened, people were starting to get around more. We might be a pretty good indicator of the activity that’s going on,” he says.
Car sharing group Popcar has seen a 7 percent increase in both new sign ups and reservations in March compared with January, and ride-hailing group Didi said there had been a small upturn in the number of trips taken and that it’s expecting an even bigger spike when travel restrictions are eased.
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