Human Mobility Patterns during the 2024 Total Solar Eclipse in Canada

Abstract

This study explores human mobility patterns during the 2024 total solar eclipse in Canada, leveraging de-identified network mobility data from TELUS Communications. We compare travel patterns during the total solar eclipse with a baseline period by averaging the visitor counts from April 15th to 19th, then calculate the change in visitor counts during the total solar eclipse relative to this baseline period (hereafter adjusted visitor counts). Using these adjusted visitor counts, we estimate that 589,290 Canadians traveled to areas within the path of totality to observe the eclipse. The findings highlight significant inter-provincial travel, with major influxes of visitors to Ontario, particularly near Lake Erie. We found significant evidence of a distance decay effect in the adjusted traveller counts to the path of totality. This study demonstrates the utility of de-identified network mobility data in understanding the dynamics of human mobility during once-in-a-lifetime events.