With the government advising that workplaces can start reopening, a proportion of Brits will be returning to work in the next couple of weeks.
However, new research from the team at carwow suggests the way they will get there will be under review due to safety concerns around COVID-19.
In a snap poll of 500 Britons, it emerged that public transport, which was previously the main commute for one in four (24%), will drop by 10% nationally to just 14%, with workers seeking alternative routes to work that don’t require close proximity to others.
84% said they will be actively limiting their use of public transport even once lockdown has been fully lifted and a massive majority of 86% admitted they’d feel uncomfortable on any form of public transport at the moment, with three quarters (75%) stating they won’t feel fully safe until a vaccine for COVID-19 is discovered.
More than a quarter of respondents (26%) have saved between £11to £41 per week from not taking public transport during lockdown, with 7% saving as much as £50 or more.
Roads may be considerably busier for the foreseeable future, as 74% of those polled said that they would be willing to spend more money on petrol, driving or taxis in order to avoid the dangers of public transport.
Since Boris Johnson’s announcement on the 10th triggered the first wave of returns to work, carwow has seen a significant increase week on week in consumers looking to buy a new car on site, with activity at levels now above what is expected in a normal May.
Vix Leyton, consumer expert at www.carwow.co.uk said, “As much as people up and down the UK want to get back to a relative sense of normality, it’s understandable that as lockdown eases and with no vaccine in sight, the idea of a crowded bus, train or tube carriage will spark concern in even the most rational and ‘low – risk’ individuals.
“Many will be understandably thinking about their options and for those looking for a car to make travel easier and mitigate exposure risk, it will be good news that dealerships will be allowed to reopen on 1st June.
“For those who are keen to access their options now – home delivery and ‘click and collect’ are just some of the remote buying solutions that are available and will continue to be when showrooms are up and running. We’ve rounded up all the information you need on-site, and make it easy for you to talk directly to the dealerships about what consumers need to feel comfortable and how the dealerships can help.”
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