Analysis of changes in population's cross-city travel patterns in the pre- and post-pandemic era: A case study of China. (March 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Wang, Xuyang; Pei, Tao; Li, Kaixi; Cen, Yan; Shi, Miao; Zhuo, Xian; Mao, Tianyu
• Is Part Of: Cities. Volume 122(2022)
• Publication Date: 2022-03
• Subjects: COVID-19 -- Crowd travel -- Travel recovery degree -- Big data -- Mobile signalling data; City planning -- Periodicals; Urban policy -- Periodicals; 711.4
• DOI: 10.1016/j.cities.2021.103472
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0264-2751

Abstract

Abstract: The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak has immensely changed people's travel behaviour. The changes in travel behaviour have had a huge impact on different industries, such as consumption, entertainment, commerce, office, and education. This study investigates the impact of COVID-19 on population travel patterns from three aspects: total trips, travel recovery degree, and travel distance. The result indicates that COVID-19 has reduced the total number of cross-city trips and flexible non-work travel; in the post-pandemic era, cross-city travel is mainly short-distance (distance <100 km). This study has significant policymaking implications for governments in countries where the population shares a similar change in travel behaviour.