PROJECT STORY
The challenge
25-30 words maximum Understand the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on mobility
COVIMOB
COVIMOB: analyzing the impact of the COVID-19 crisis and the lockdown on mobility
The solution
Analyze and cross-reference a large amount of data to understand changes in the travel behavior of city dwellers
The impact
A better knowledge of the effects of the crisis in order to adapt public mobility policies
-20%
Fewer users using public transport in Lyon
+30%
More bike traffic on average in Lyon in 2020 compared to 2019
28%
Of new bike users for home-to-work commutes in Lyon are former users of public transport
With the pandemic, people around the world have seen their daily habits upended.
Getting around has been affected in particular, as successive lockdowns have changed our habits. But will there be a return to the “world before”? Will COVID-19 transform our relationship with mobility in the long term? How can we anticipate how to adapt transport availability and cities to changes, some of which may prove sustainable?
COVIMOB is a project led by Laboratoire d’Aménagement et d’Économie des Transports (the Laboratory of Transport Planning and Economics, or LAET).
First, it was necessary to build an effective organization in order to quickly collect, process, and cross-reference a large amount of data. Arcadis’s expertise in the analysis of mobility and data has led us to be selected to participate in the creation of an observatory. While this project focuses on Lyon and the Rhône department, it also collects and compares the indicators of several other major metropolises: Paris, Milan, New York, London and Amsterdam.
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Taking the solution
Arcadis was tasked with building databases that are easy to use and to update, allowing all project stakeholders to monitor developments and easily share the data collected. Drawing on its experience in this type of mission and its capacity for innovation, Arcadis has mobilized the most suitable tools to develop shared databases – GIS and Power BI – which has particularly allowed for the comparison of traffic between different means of transportation (car, bike and subway) and the identification of the most impacted urban areas. The 2020 data is put into perspective with that of 2019.
Secondly, Arcadis’s knowledge of both Lyon’s territory and the mobility sector helped enhance the project, in particular by connecting it to many other studies.
A better understanding of changes in mobility habits can help adjust the availability of transport to the new needs of urban dwellers.
The data from the COVIMOB project, which will continue to be enriched over time, makes it possible to analyze the particular situations of metropolises in order to better inform urban stakeholders when adapting their service offerings to users. It will also allow projections to be made and health crisis-related trends and lessons to be highlighted.
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Taking the impact
The project has already provided important lessons and outlined avenues for reflection and action on several topics:
- The impact of teleworking has been quantified on the territories and their transport networks.
- The (potentially sustainable) change in users’ transportation method choices was assessed.
- The major challenges of public transport networks to restore their ridership and funding were highlighted.
Used capabilities
