The importance of using cars has been greatly enhanced by the coronavirus epidemic, as many people choose to travel by car to reduce contact with others. In contrast, there is a serious decline in public transport and carpool services worldwide. Among other things, the recently published 2020 Continental Mobility Study highlights these topics. As part of the survey, representative surveys of people’s mobility habits were conducted in Germany, France, the United States, Japan, and China in collaboration with the renowned Institute for Applied Social Sciences.
In France and Germany, 80 percent of respondents said they changed their daily mobility habits during the coronavirus epidemic. A similar change in behavior is observed in the United States with 81 percent. However, the biggest transformation has taken place in Asia: in Japan, 88 percent of people have changed their transport habits, while in China the figure has reached 93 percent.
Although many have reduced their travel during the pandemic, they have used their cars more often. In Germany, for example, a quarter of respondents used their car more often during the epidemic than before.
Even in France, where freedom of movement, and thus transport, has been particularly severely restricted, 16 percent of the population travel by car more often than before. A similar trend can be observed in Germany (23 percent), the United States (22 percent), and Japan (21 percent). The coronavirus epidemic led to an increase in personal mobility and, as a consequence, a further increase in traffic density in the five countries studied.
In Japan and Germany, 6 percent of respondents and 15 percent in the United States have purchased a car or are planning to buy a car in light of the consequences of the coronavirus epidemic. However, the study did not address whether buyers preferred to buy used or new cars.
We also bought a used car during the coronavirus epidemic, and we chose an Opel Astra Combi because of its size, it can hold a lot of things, shopping and even furniture, so we can buy much more at once to reduce travel. the use of petrol and contact with other people, thus reducing the spread of the epidemic.
