Persistent impact of COVID-19 pandemic on mobility behavior of paratransit users, montreal case study

Abstract

IntroductionCOVID-19 pandemic has had and still has impacts on many aspects of society. This crisis has exacerbated certain injustices among various population groups. Mobility was already an issue for people with disabilities (PWDs) with limited travel options and numerous daily barriers. MethodsThe aim of this study is to identify and measure the impact of the pandemic on the mobility of paratransit users. To do this, trip data from the paratransit service of the Société de transport de Montréal (STM), covering the March 2019 to March 2022 period, are used. Four analyzes are carried out: (1) categorial Analysis to evaluate the link between users’ characteristics and mobility behavior during the pandemic, (2) frequency use during the various pandemic phases, (3) retention rate using survival analysis of paratransit users depending on admission date and (4) evolution of the activity time to travel time ratio. ResultsThe categorical analysis reveals that only the type of disability had a different effect on the modification of mobility behavior of paratransit users. Furthermore, users who began using paratransit service during the pandemic seem more loyal than users who started before COVID-19. Only 22% of users who reduced their travel in the first year of the pandemic resumed their mobility behavior in the second year of the pandemic. Finally, waiting times and travel times for paratransit decreased due to ridership lost caused by the COVID-19. However, activity duration has slightly decreased. ConclusionThese results raise questions about the persistence of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Thus, some perspectives on the stickiness of new mobility behaviors are proposed.