We all expected there to be fewer cars on the road during lockdown – employees are either working from home or on leave, students are doing whatever work they can online, and no one leaves their home unless they need urgent medical care or essential supplies.
Vehicle tracking company Tracker has worked with data analysers Lighthouse to release a new report that looks at how compliant SA’s drivers are with lockdown rules. The report takes a look at vehicle movement, comparing those before and after lockdown. South African vehicle activity had already dropped by 20% just before the lockdown, and has plummeted by 75% since the lockdown has been instated.
There was a slight vehicle activity increase a few days before the lockdown, and another increase just after. Analysts believe these increases may be attributed to citizens shopping in preparation for being confined to their homes with many only having been paid on the 25th.
“It is important to note that not all areas will be able to curtail movement to exactly the same extent. Some areas are more likely to have, as their residents, greater numbers of people who are still travelling as essential services workers,” said Linda Reid, head of Data for Lightstone, to BusinessTech.
Both the Western Cape and Gauteng have the highest compliance for staying off our roads, and here vehicle activity dropped by between 75% and 80% during the first two days of lockdown.
The researchers found that within the two most compliant provinces – with Sandton in Gauteng and Durbanville, Franschhoek and Noordhoek in the Western Cape – show a greater than 90% reduction in vehicle movement.
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