Abstract
A growing body of literature suggests that restrictive public health measures implemented to control COVID-19 have had negative impacts on physical activity. We examined how Stay Home orders in Houston, New York City, and Seattle impacted outdoor physical activity patterns, measured by daily bicycle and pedestrian count data. We assessed changes in activity levels between the period before and during Stay Home orders. Across all three cities, we found significant changes in bicycle and pedestrian counts from the period before to the period during Stay Home orders. The direction of change varied by location, likely due to differing local contexts and outbreak progression. These results can inform policy around the use of outdoor public infrastructure as the COVID-19 pandemic continues.
Highlights
During Stay Home orders over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, outdoor public infrastructure, including parks and walking and biking trails, are some of the few low-risk spaces individuals can access outside their homes
Across all three cities and most counter locations, we found a significant change in bicycle and pedestrian counts from the pre-Stay Home order period to the Stay Home order period (Table 2)
In Houston, bicycle counts saw a significant increase in mean residuals between the two periods across all three locations (p < 0.001), indicating that daily bicycle counts were significantly higher during the Stay Home order than predicted from the 2019 prediction model and 2020 covariate data (Fig 2 and S2 Fig)
Summary
During Stay Home orders over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, outdoor public infrastructure, including parks and walking and biking trails, are some of the few low-risk spaces individuals can access outside their homes. Outdoor public infrastructure use at the community level during the pandemic is not well-understood beyond limited selfreported data. Prior research has suggested that physical activity [1] and time spent outside [2] are both associated with increased wellbeing. COVID-19-specific studies suggest that a decrease in physical activity may increase the risk of cardiovascular disease [3] and metabolic disorders [4], among other health impacts. A recent study in China utilizing survey data found that physical activity during the pandemic mitigated negative emotions in university students [5], suggesting impacts beyond physical health
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