Driving in India down 80pc in April, shows Apple Maps too

When it comes to specific cities, New Delhi recorded 83 per cent reduction in walking on April 13 and 86 per cent reduction in driving on the same day, showed the report which reflects requests for directions in Apple Maps.

The restrictions due to COVID-19 had even greater impact in Mumbai where driving got reduced by 89 per cent and walking by 84 per cent on April 13.

The complete data set features daily changes in requests for directions by transportation type for mobility trends for major cities and 63 countries or regions.

The data show change in routing requests from January 13.

The mobility data trends tool from Apple Maps was released on Tuesday to support the impactful work happening around the globe to mitigate the spread of COVID-19.

Apple hopes that this mobility data may provide helpful insights to local governments and health authorities and may also be used as a foundation for new public policies by showing the change in volume of people driving, walking or taking public transit in their communities.

Maps does not associate mobility data with a user's Apple ID, and Apple does not keep a history of where a user has been, the company said.

The information is generated by counting the number of requests made to Apple Maps for directions.

The data sets are then compared to reflect a change in volume of people driving, walking or taking public transit around the world.

Data availability in a particular city, country, or region is subject to a number of factors, including minimum thresholds for direction requests made per day, Apple said.

Earlier, Google announced its Community Mobility Reports based on anonymised location data.

These reports from Google chart movement trends over time by geography, across different categories of places such as retail and recreation, groceries and pharmacies, parks, transit stations, workplaces, and residential.