Abstract
COVID-19 caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus is a global health concern due to the quick spread of the disease. In Turkey, the first confirmed COVID-19 case and death occurred on 11 and 15 March 2020, respectively. There is a lack of research on the impact of COVID-19 on public transportation mobility and the Air Quality Index (AQI) around the world. The objective of this research is to consider the impact of COVID-19 on public transportation usage and consequently the AQI level in Turkey. Data collection for the analysis of public transportation usage and the air quality status during pre-lockdown and lockdown was carried out using the public transportation applications Moovit and World’s Air Pollution. The results demonstrated that during the lockdown in Ankara and Istanbul, public transportation usage dramatically decreased by more than 80% by the end of March and did not change significantly until the end of May. As regards air quality, the results confirmed that air quality improved significantly during the lockdown. For Ankara and Istanbul, the improvement was estimated at about 9% and 47%, respectively.
Highlights
From December 2019 in Wuhan, China, the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak has been spreading rapidly across many countries, with Italy, Spain, France, the United Kingdom, and China being the hardest hit
The results show that it is not possible to determine whether the coronavirus is spread through the air, by using PM10 as a carrier
The reason was the COVID-19 pandemic and the specific restrictions imposed by the Turkish government regarding the use of public transportation
Summary
From December 2019 in Wuhan, China, the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak has been spreading rapidly across many countries, with Italy, Spain, France, the United Kingdom, and China being the hardest hit. In response to the outbreak, the Chinese government imposed a lockdown in Wuhan, which was known as the greatest attempt to save human beings in history. These travel restrictions have since considerably mitigated the spread of COVID-19 [1, 2]. Turkey surpassed China in terms of the total number of confirmed cases on 20 April, the rapid increase in the number of confirmed cases in Turkey did not overburden the public healthcare system, and the initial case-fatality rate remained lower compared to European countries such as Germany, Spain, Italy, United Kingdom (UK), and Sweden [4]
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