Post-lockdown: Where Does the Transportation Sector Stand?

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During the lockdown, the transportation sector was one of the hardest hit by our changing habits and our forced reduction in mobility. Today, following the end of the lockdown and the summer vacation, the sector has not yet returned to “normal” levels of activity.

Travel restrictions to and from other countries continue to have a significant impact (to put it mildly) on the airline industry. It remains the hardest-hit sector, with an estimated drop in traffic of more than 77% at Paris airports, for example. For their vacations, the French naturally favored destinations within France. However, despite this, domestic modes of transportation were not used as much as last year. For example, The SNCF has seen a decline of more than 15% in long-distance travel (TGV and Intercités). This decline, which the SNCF had anticipated, was mitigated by marketing initiatives, notably ticket price reductions. The highway fared better (the usual traffic jams during the peak travel period were back in full force…), with, for example, a drop of only 2% in traffic on the VINCI Autoroutes network compared to last July. BlaBlaCar also reports that it has returned to normal levels of activity this summer.

We can therefore conclude that the French have indeed changed their travel habits during the holidays. On the roads, the absence of foreign travelers passing through France was offset by French people who opted for vacations within France, eschewing air travel and preferring to travel by car rather than by TGV.

For those who stayed at work, the push toward remote work continued to have an impact. For example, in Paris: The RATP estimates that ridership in August was 40% lower than usual. As for bicycles, they seem to have been a popular choice among French people who can afford them. The number of people using bike paths has increased by 33% in major cities (1).

Meanwhile, freight transport is gradually resuming. While 59% of trucks were idle at the start of the lockdown, that figure has dropped to just 5% today, according to a study by the FNTR (2).

Article written by Célia Foulon (Consultant) celia.foulon@carbone4.com

Sources:

1. LCI

2. FNTR

Bonus: For adventurers who’ve decided to stay in France, have you heard of micro-adventures? It’s all about here !

(And long live low-carbon vacations 🙂).