Abstract
The global closure policy to limit the spread of the new coronavirus (COVID-19) in 2020 was based on public safety and health considerations. In the implementation of arrangements to prevent the epidemic, the function of the transportation system as a basis for securing cities has been severely affected. After summarizing the domestic and international literature on epidemic policies and travel, this study analyzes the changes of the spatial and temporal distribution characteristics of people’s travel and the impacts in the context of the two epidemic phases in Beijing and abroad. During the epidemic, traffic volume into and out of Beijing showed a downward trend. In our study, we found that total travel volume in Beijing during the Spring Festival in 2020 was down by about 70% year-on-year, the distribution of daily traffic trips during the day was not affected by the outbreak, and six urban areas in the center of Beijing experienced greater declines in travel volume compared to other urban areas. The conclusions of the study can provide a reference for the sustainability and recovery of urban areas and formulation of policies in the subsequent pandemic era in terms of the relationship between public travel and epidemic control.
Highlights
Academic Editor: Elżbieta MacioszekCOVID-19 swept the world, causing severe effects on the socioeconomic, energy–environment, and transport sectors globally [1]
The outbreak in Wuhan, China, in early 2020 coincided with the peak of spring transportation and the city’s special location as a “thoroughfare through nine provinces”, necessitating a citywide lockdown policy to block the transmission route of the epidemic, which directly led to a reduction in traffic and residential activities by more than 50% [20], and there was a trend of declining physical activity and well-being among adults during the second COVID-19 outbreak blockade in Germany [21]
The two cases of the epidemic in Beijing selected for this paper provide a database for studying the impact of epidemic prevention and control measures on transportation activities, which can be used to study the mechanism of the impact of such strategies on travel during COVID-19
Summary
Environment, and transport sectors globally [1]. Since the global outbreak of COVID19 [2,3], the epidemic situation at home and abroad has continued to evolve and change. In order to simplify the follow-up work, we named the first outbreak the Spring Festival epidemic and the second the Xinfadi epidemic, both of which went through the complete process—zero infection, transmission, cases zero again—to analyze the impact of the epidemic and control policies on transportation and to determine the recovery and sustainable development of the post-pandemic era. These two phases were in the early stages of the epidemic. This paper examines the changes in traffic travel in Beijing during the Spring Festival outbreak and at various stages of the Xinfadi outbreak
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