#COVID19 Impact on Travel Behaviour Trends in Canada, @COMMBCA Special Report
Russ Curry, Ministry of New Media
COMMB has conducted a review of travel behaviour to assess changes to traffic flow since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. The review included sourcing data on over 12,000 geo-fenced Outdoor advertising faces and mapping software that provides driving directions. Data from the two sources has been blended to provide insight and a representative snapshot of weekly travel behaviour.
The graph above illustrates weekly travel behaviour in seven CMA’s: Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Ottawa and Halifax. Starting in January, data from nine weeks till March 15, 2020 was used as a baseline to calculate the percentage difference by week.
Across the seven CMA’s a 43% decline was observed for the week of March 16, 2020. During the week of March 23, 2020 the decline rose to 57% as more businesses closed and people working remotely increased. For the week of March 30, 2020, the decline began to level off at 58% and for the week of April 6, 2020, travel behaviour remained at 59% below normal. While there has been a decline, it is noteworthy that the average traffic volume of 40% remains in place for the seven markets.
It is important to note that this analysis shows the overall out-of-home travel decline in a market and is not applicable to a specific OOH location. The traffic at specific OOH locations will be influenced by proximity to essential businesses such as grocery stores and pharmacies and its use as a commuter route resulting in variation by location.
COMMB tell us that they will continue to review the impact of COVID-19 on OOH’s audiences and provide future updates.
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