Peterborough residents making more public transport journeys, Google figures suggest

The data, for the week to May 21, covers the second week after lockdown restrictions started to be eased in England.

Google uses location data from phones and other personal devices to track trends in people’s movement in the home, retail and recreation establishments, grocery stores and pharmacies, public transport hubs, workplaces and parks and green spaces.

The weekly report shows an increase in activity within Peterborough’s public transport hubs during the week to May 21, compared to the week before – suggesting people are beginning to venture onto buses and trains more often.

Over the seven days, time spent in stations was 57 per cent lower than during a five-week baseline period at the start of the year.

The week before, it had been 66 per cent lower than usual levels.

In the first report, which covered the week to March 29 when the lockdown came into effect, public transport activity was down 69 per cent.

But the data suggests that the population in Peterborough is staying away from transport hubs less successfully than in other locations across the UK. Nationally, people were spending 58 per cent less time than usual in stations last week.

The seven days to May 21 covered the second week after Boris Johnson announced a partial easing of the lockdown in England on Sunday, May 10, when the new ‘Stay Alert’ slogan was unveiled.

Rules on once-a-day exercise were relaxed, to allow people to spend unlimited time outdoors, while people were permitted to meet one person from another household.

Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have since followed suit to relax restrictions, with lockdown rules now diverging across the four nations.

In other locations in Peterborough:

. Centres and food outlets saw 59 per cent less traffic than normal

. Workplaces were 45 per cent quieter than usual

. Food shops and pharmacies saw 18 per cent less traffic

. People spent 17 per cent more time at home than usual