The latest data from Christchurch City Council shows the level of air pollution dropped sharply in the first week of lockdown with fewer people driving around the city.
Nitric oxide levels, which are mainly associated with vehicle emissions, averaged 9 µg/m3 (micrograms of gaseous pollutant per cubic meter of ambient air) in the first week of lockdown.
This compares to an average concentration of 38.8 µg/m3 in the week prior to lockdown.
"The improvement in air quality appears to have a direct correlation with the reduction in the number of vehicles on our roads," said Smart Christchurch manager Michael Healy.
"Data from a number of major routes across the city show that during the first week of lockdown traffic volumes were between 24 and 28 per cent of normal."
Under level 4, people are only allowed out of their bubbles for essential travel.
Healy said there has also been a drop in the number of people using cycleways in the city.
However, some of the city's cycleways, safe access to parks, beaches and other recreational areas have seen a steady increase in traffic volumes during the lockdown period, Healy said.
"On the Sumner section of the Coastal Pathway we were getting an average of 777 riders a day over the first week of lockdown, which is a 22 per cent increase on pre-lockdown volumes.
"That’s not surprising given the warm weather and the popularity of cycling as a pastime during lockdowns," Healy said.
Pedestrian counts in the central city also show the impact of the lockdown.
The week prior to lockdown, there were 265,351 pedestrian movements at the council's central city monitoring sites. But during the first week of lockdown, this dropped to 63,398 - a decrease of around 75 per cent.
The two Cashel Mall counting sites had a 45 per cent decrease in pedestrians, from 51,000 the week prior to lockdown to 28,277 during the first week of lockdown.
- For more real-time information on Christchurch, visit Smart View.
