Americans are moving again. Or, at least, they're looking for directions again.
After two months of social distancing and staying home to curb the spread of the coronavirus, data from Apple suggests that people in several cities, most of them where reopening plans are in place, are starting to venture outside their homes again.
Apple began publishing data in April showing the change in searches for directions in Apple Maps in about 70 U.S. cities. And while the data showed clear drop-offs in requests for transit, walking and driving directions in March, search volume has moved back to pre-coronavirus levels in seven cities.
Walking directions are above where they were in late January in Toledo, Ohio; Omaha, Nebraska; Corpus Christi, Texas; Virginia Beach, Virginia; Bakersfield, California; Tulsa, Oklahoma; and Memphis, Tennessee. Driving directions also rebounded in several of those cities, with Omaha, Corpus Christi, Memphis and Toledo all back above pre-coronavirus levels.
Other cities are nearing pre-coronavirus levels, including Modesto, California; St. Louis; Colorado Springs, Colorado; and Jacksonville, Florida.
The story is different in several of America's largest cities, with search volume still down in New York, New Orleans, San Diego and Washington — all of them cities where lockdown orders haven't been lifted and stay-at-home orders are still in place.
While walking and driving directions are slowly nearing normal, transit directions have yet to recover. Search volume for traffic is still down by more than half in 46 cities.
See how U.S. cities compare using the drop-down menu below.
