People in Hartlepool making more public transport journeys since lockdown eased, Google location data suggests

The data, for the week to May 16, covers the first period in which lockdown restrictions started to be eased in England.

Google uses location data from phones and other personal devices to track trends in people's movement in the home, retail and recreation establishments, grocery stores and pharmacies, public transport hubs, workplaces, and parks and green spaces.

RELATED: Warning after Hartlepool lockdown breachers remove cordons to use children's play areas

The weekly report shows an increase in activity within Hartlepool's public transport hubs during the week to May 16, compared to the week before – suggesting people are beginning to venture onto buses and trains more often.

Over the seven days, time spent in stations was 33% lower than during a five-week baseline period at the start of the year.

The week before, it had been 42% lower than usual levels.

In the first report, which covered the week to March 29 when the lockdown came into effect, public transport activity was down 55%.

But the data suggests that the population in Hartlepool is staying away from transport hubs less successfully than in other locations across the UK.

Nationally, people were spending 62% less time than usual in stations last week.

During the week to May 16 the first measures to ease England's lockdown were brought in, as people were encouraged to return to workplaces if they could not work from home. They were also allowed to stay outdoors in public places, as long as social distancing measures were maintained.

RELATED: Waste collections in Hartlepool: Council set to restart brown bin collections

The nationwide lockdown was implemented on March 23, with the Prime Minister telling people to stay home and only leave for “very limited” and essential purposes.

These included shopping for basic necessities, once-a-day exercise, medical needs and travelling to work, but only when it could not be done from home.

Meanwhile, four in 10 adults in Great Britain felt unsafe when going outside after the Government’s “stay at home” guidance was relaxed, official figures suggest.

The latest Office for National Statistics polling showed 41% felt unsafe or very unsafe due to the coronavirus, rising to 54% of those with an underlying health condition.

Despite the fears, around one in four adults said they had visited a park or green space over the past seven days, a sixth of whom did so to meet friends or family outside their immediate household.

The Opinions and Lifestyle Survey on the social impacts of Covid-19 was conducted on 995 adults in Great Britain between May 14 and 17.

In other locations in Hartlepool:

Shopping centres and food outlets saw 68% less traffic than normal

Workplaces were 48% quieter than usual

Food shops and pharmacies saw 21% less traffic

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this story on our website. While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you.

In order for us to continue to provide high quality and trusted local news on this free-to-read site, I am asking you to also please purchase a copy of our newspaper.

Our journalists are highly trained and our content is independently regulated by IPSO to some of the most rigorous standards in the world. But being your eyes and ears comes at a price. So we need your support more than ever to buy our newspapers during this crisis.

With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our local valued advertisers - and consequently the advertising that we receive - we are more reliant than ever on you helping us to provide you with news and information by buying a copy of our newspaper.

Thank you