On the other hand, the use of public transport was much more distinctly related to income in AMBA than in Bogota, with high income groups reducing their use of this mode by about 22 percentage points (and nearly proportionately increasing the use of private motorized modes), compared to about 13 percentage points among the low-income residents (Figure 8). In Bogota, in contrast, the decline in the share of public transport in overall modal split was the highest among middle-income residents (approximately 11 percentage points), and all income groups, especially the most well-off residents, significantly increased travel by walking and cycling.

- _5.2. Persistent changes (2021): Below-2019 public transport use, continued shift to NMT in Bogota, shift to private mobility in AMBA_

The initial drop in trip generation rates was partially, but not fully, reversed even by the fall of 2021. The total number of trips in 2021 was 7.5 percent lower than in 2019 on weekdays in Bogota and 9.5 percent lower in AMBA, meaning that about half of the drop recorded in 2020 had been recovered. The share of residents _not_ traveling at all on a typical workday remained high – in Bogota, at 28 percent, compared to 24 percent in 2019, and in AMBA the respective figures were 25 percent (2021) and 19 percent (2019). The number of home-based trips in late 2021 had already practically recovered to 2019 levels in Bogota (-0.6 percent) although less so in AMBA (-8.2 percent), while the number of non-home-based trips were still at much lower levels (-26.5 percent in Bogota and -16.1 percent in AMBA) (Figure 9). This meant an increase in the weight of home-based mobility in both metropolitan areas. Also travel for work and education specifically (“compulsory travel”) had reached (AMBA) or even exceeded (Bogota) pre-pandemic levels, while non-compulsory travel remained at 10-11 percent below the 2019 level.

**_Figure 9:_** _Recovery of “compulsory” versus “non-compulsory” travel_

<!-- Start of picture text --> a. Bogota b. AMBA<br>3%<br>2019 vs 2020<br>2019 vs 2021<br>-1%<br>-11% -10%<br>-11%<br>-17%<br>-17%<br>-27%<br>Compulsory Non-compulsory<br>Compulsory Non-compulsory<br>Source: Authors based on CDR data<br><!-- End of picture text --> Mobility within Bogota associated with residents in other municipalities continued to fall in 2021, so that on weekdays its share was 20 percent lower than in 2019. Relatedly, average distances traveled remained much below the 2019 level and mobility became significantly more spatially dispersed compared to both 2019 and 2020. In contrast, in AMBA, average distances traveled in 2021 were already _above_ those recorded in 2019 (+3.2 percent) – in other words, the trends had more than fully reversed compared to 2020. Similarly, after an initial strong increase in spatial dispersion of travel, 2021 saw a partial reversal, with more trips recorded per OD pair compared to 2020. Also in contrast to Bogota, the trip generation of residents living in the Province of Buenos Aires traveling to CABA increased a lot compared to 2020 although it did not yet fully recover.

One of the more permanent imprints on mobility behaviors left by the pandemic – those still observable nearly two years later – was in terms of modal choices. Some of the changes in modal choices introduced by the "deep 14