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Location technology company and satnav maker TomTom reports a traffic index for hundreds of cities based in part on satnav user data. The index suggests how much longer a journey would take to complete than under ideal conditions. In Paris, for example, under normal conditions, it was common for the congestion rate to exceed 100%, which means that a trip would take more than twice as long as on empty roads. For each of these cities we compare the 2019 average congestion ratio for the peak hours of each day to the 2020 index, to show where the blockades were more difficult, where they started earlier and where they are beginning, irregularly, to be released.
The Chinese city of Wuhan, where the virus was first observed, is only slowly emerging from an intense multi-month shutdown. Shanghai also experienced restrictions as authorities tried to contain a local outbreak in China’s largest city. However, it is surprising how quickly the city of 23 million people returned to normal circulation levels.
Lombardy, the region of northern Italy with Milan in the center, was the first place in Europe to go into closure. But initially only a few small areas were affected by the restrictions. As the severity of the situation became apparent, the blockade spread to the entire region and then to the rest of Italy.
In mid-March, a tale of two cities was at stake between the French and British capitals. Paris closed before London, and the restrictions there have been applied more rigorously: citizens are required to print a receipt detailing the reason each time they leave their homes.
Sweden has resisted a blockade of the common type in most of Europe. But his government has advised citizens to practice social distancing. While the contrast with neighboring Denmark is stark, it is clear that even in Stockholm, traffic levels dropped dramatically in the last weeks of March.
So far, Taiwan appears to have controlled the spread of Covid-19 without blockages, and traffic levels in its capital are not far from normal. Sapporo, on the island of Hokkaido in northern Japan, was blocked until April 12, after which traffic began to increase slowly, until a new closure was imposed when cases began to increase again. Many countries are now eagerly awaiting those second waves, even as they seek to ease the restrictions.
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