While the world locks down in fear of the coronavirus, Waze has been hard at work. The popular navigation app has been studying changes in global traffic patterns over the past several weeks influenced by the pandemic. Naturally, its data shows a significant drop in driving activity worldwide. And Malaysia has managed to stand out as one of the ‘high achievers’ in social distancing during this period of crisis.
Statistics gathered from Waze users indicate that Malaysians are clocking 80 percent less kilometres ever since the Movement Control Order (MCO) started when compared to the daily average calculated over a two-week period in February 2020. This supersedes the 60 percent reduction in mileage averaged by the rest of the world.
A one-month view of the change in percentage of drives recorded on the road in Malaysia (Source: Waze Data, 2020)
Drastic drop in drivers on the road in Kuala Lumpur (Source: Waze Data, 2020)
Waze’s data shows that the decline in traffic on Malaysian roads began as early as 17 March 2020, a day before the MCO officially began. This is an encouraging sign of cooperation among the public with the MCO despite exemptions given for essential journeys in the face of the constant barrage of accusations made on social media - not all backed by evidence, sadly - over errant Malaysians flouting social distancing measures.
To help its users plan journeys for essentials more effectively, its map editors and crisis response team is currently working with 58 countries to add region-specific relief efforts including road closures and red zones to the map. It also launched a Covid-19 landing page for governments to contribute data on medical testing centres and food distribution locations to the app.
