Mapping the lockdown effect: How coronavirus turned cities into ghost towns

Published.

April 05, 2020 04: 48:41

City after city has actually fallen quiet as desperate federal governments implore or oblige homeowners to stay indoors in a bid to stymie the disastrous spread of COVID-19

Australian cities are no exception.

These maps show how peak hour gridlock has practically disappeared in our 4 most overloaded capital city centres as federal government physical-distancing restrictions have entered effect.

They use Google Maps information to compare traffic speeds at 9: 00 am on Friday, April 3, 2020, with normal traffic at 9: 00 am on Fridays.

Across Australia, separate Google Maps data exposes transit stations and retail and entertainment venues (such as restaurants, going shopping centres and movie theaters) have actually experienced the steepest falls in motion.

The information, which tracks motion at various kinds of locations, shows motion at transit stations is down by nearly 60 percent compared to normal levels, while retail and recreation sees have actually fallen by 45 per cent.

Residential is the only classification that taped a rise in motion.

Pedestrian counts produced from a network of 65 sensors around the City of Melbourne tell a comparable tale.

They reveal the number of pedestrians out and about on Thursday April 2, 2020 had plunged by 87 per cent compared with the average for Thursdays over the previous year.

The pattern is the exact same at particular places, with the variety of pedestrians down by more than 90 per cent at both Southern Cross Station and Princes Bridge compared to the past year’s average.