Pedestrian traffic in US downtowns strengthened in October to -38.1% below the 2019 level, from -40.7% in September and -44.7% in August, reported Springboard.
The rise in weekday foot traffic reflects fewer employees working at home in October than in September (50% in October versus 54% in September) and an improvement in foot traffic between 6 a.m. and 11 a.m. (from -46.5% in September to -44.2% in October).
“The importance to downtowns of traffic generated by office employees suggests that downtown traffic will continue to remain substantially below pre Covid levels until employees return to their offices in any meaningful number,” wrote Springboard’s Marketing & Insights Director, Diane Wehrle.
“This is a key challenge for downtowns in the final two months of the year, which is a pivotal time for overall annual performance.”
Downtown pedestrian traffic across the US continued on a steady road to recovery in October, with a reduction in the gap from the 2019 level to -38.1% from -40.7% in September, Springboard reported.
“The key change since September was a slight weakening in activity at weekends in October compared with September, and a strengthening of activity during the working week,” Wehrle wrote. “This suggests that the drift of employees back to the office—which drives more consumer visits to downtowns on Monday through Friday—is accelerating.”