SINGAPORE - More than 40 per cent of people around the world have cut back on public transport rides, with 8.5 per cent staying away completely since the Covid-19 pandemic started nearly a year ago. In a survey done last month, Israeli mobility app provider Moovit found that of those who still needed to get around, 4.6 per cent have switched to other modes of transport. The firm found that the frequency of public transport usage did not change for 38 per cent of people. Another 7.6 per cent of respondents said their bus and train usage had actually gone up since the pandemic started. Moovit said it polled "tens of thousands" of respondents in more than 100 cities across 28 countries; and pointed out that "at the lowest point in 2020, many cities around the world experienced more than an 80 per cent drop in public transportation ridership". For Singapore, the December survey revealed the aversion to public transport was less severe. More than half of respondents said their usage had not changed since the pandemic, with another 8.2 per cent saying their trips had actually risen. Less than 2 per cent of those polled said they were still staying away from buses and trains, while just o...