Abstract
The restrictive measures implemented in response to the COVID-19 pandemic have triggered sudden massive changes to travel behaviors of people all around the world. This study examines the individual mobility patterns for all transport modes (walk, bicycle, motorcycle, car driven alone, car driven in company, bus, subway, tram, train, airplane) before and during the restrictions adopted in ten countries on six continents: Australia, Brazil, China, Ghana, India, Iran, Italy, Norway, South Africa and the United States. This cross-country study also aims at understanding the predictors of protective behaviors related to the transport sector and COVID-19. Findings hinge upon an online survey conducted in May 2020 (N = 9,394). The empirical results quantify tremendous disruptions for both commuting and non-commuting travels, highlighting substantial reductions in the frequency of all types of trips and use of all modes. In terms of potential virus spread, airplanes and buses are perceived to be the riskiest transport modes, while avoidance of public transport is consistently found across the countries. According to the Protection Motivation Theory, the study sheds new light on the fact that two indicators, namely income inequality, expressed as Gini index, and the reported number of deaths due to COVID-19 per 100,000 inhabitants, aggravate respondents’ perceptions. This research indicates that socio-economic inequality and morbidity are not only related to actual health risks, as well documented in the relevant literature, but also to the perceived risks. These findings document the global impact of the COVID-19 crisis as well as provide guidance for transportation practitioners in developing future strategies.
Highlights
The COVID-19 pandemic presents a major challenge for all of humanity and is a huge calamity of the 21st century [1]
As the greatest risk for infectious diseases spreading within shared travel modes, such as air travel and mass transit, is related to the fact that individuals are in close proximity in a confined environment [11, 12], a number of mobility restrictions have been enacted in most countries to slow down the transmission of the COVID-19 and ease the pressure on health facilities [13,14,15]
The survey focused on understanding the risk perceptions encompassing the transport sector and the pandemic according to the Protection Motivation Theory as three Likert-type queries (Part D, Part E, Part F) pivoted on three corresponding dimensions: perceived probability of contracting COVID-19 for different transport modes, perceived effectiveness of the associated restrictions to limit the virus transmission and expected time for the transportation sector to recover
Summary
The COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) pandemic presents a major challenge for all of humanity and is a huge calamity of the 21st century [1]. As the greatest risk for infectious diseases spreading within shared travel modes, such as air travel and mass transit, is related to the fact that individuals are in close proximity in a confined environment [11, 12], a number of mobility restrictions have been enacted in most countries to slow down the transmission of the COVID-19 (i.e., social distancing, complete/partial lockdown, required/voluntary quarantining and closure of schools and workplaces) and ease the pressure on health facilities [13,14,15]. As mobility is closely connected to regular habits and reproducible patterns [18], the restrictive measures can represent a “game changer” for all of society entailing permanent behavioral effects comparable to life events and structural shifts among travel modes [19, 20]. Disease risk perceptions are a critical component for properly understanding behavioral changes and altered travel patterns [21,22,23]
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