City Mobility - Sydney vs Melbourne

A lot is being said about Sydney's "lockdown lite", which is being blamed for the failure - so far - to contain the virus. If we compare Sydney's situation to Melbourne's this time last year, there is an additional degree of difficulty, since the Delta variant is known to be more infectious. Having said that, let's look at the practical effects of the lockdowns using Apple's mobility dataset.

Above, we see the data for transit usage. Melbourne's trough during August of last year sits at under 13%. Contrast this with Sydney's current, and lowest, point at 21%.

In walking, above, Sydney at 39% is higher than Melbourne's trough of just over 30%.

Similarly, in terms of driving, Sydney's 47% is higher than Melbourne's 40%.

This suggests, on the face of it, that Sydney's lockdown is indeed less effective at reducing mobility than Melbourne's last year.

Sydney is now further disadvantaged by Delta's naturally higher rate of transmission. Pulling the other way is the fact that Sydney's population is partially vaccinated, perhaps compensating somewhat. The net result is that Sydney's cases are still rising.

About These Images The chart is based on data from Apple's mobility dataset.