Suddenly, it's the autumn. In this quite extraordinary year, spring and summer seem to have slipped by almost unnoticed, and as I write, it's eight weeks since the lifting of restrictions on social distancing, which happened in the third week of July. The Department for Transport (DfT) is still publishing its weekly statistics on transport use during the pandemic, and pretty grim reading they make - especially for those of us who believe in public transport and in the need for modal shift away from private vehicles. In summary, the figures for motor vehicles hit a weekly average of 90 per cent of 2019 levels within days of the first lifting of restrictions after lockdown three in April. The numbers hit 100 per cent by the spring bank holiday weekend at the end of May and have broadly stayed there. By contrast, public transport use has lagged well behind.
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