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By getting ridership down to 5-20% of normal levels.

Which is a level where public transport is unsustainable, both from a monetary and from an environmental standpoint.

To get a handle on what 5 to 20% means in the context of Japan, I did some searching around. It turns out that the Tokyo Metro and BART have similar amount of track (121.2 miles vs 131 miles), though the Tokyo Metro has many more stations. If the Tokyo Metro was operating at 5 to 20% or normal, it is still exceeding BART's daily ridership.

"Tokyo Metro" is one of several metro networks in greater Tokyo. 121 miles only represents the sum total of a single subway system

What's the argument here? The decreased mobility affects roads and airports too, should we tear them up ASAP?

The deeper, obvious (I thought) argument is that corona is a special, temporary circumstance, not a point for or against anything long-term.

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