Changes in activity organization and travel behavior choices in the United States

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought disruptive changes to society. In this chapter, we discuss how participation in activities and travel behavior choices have changed during the various stages of the pandemic through the analysis of data collected through multiple waves of surveys administered in 2020 in various regions of the United States. We present insights regarding how different aspects of life and mobility have reshaped during this period and discuss the potential temporary versus longer-term nature of the changes. We observe how some phenomena that presented a steep increase during the first stage of the pandemic started to decline, to some extent, in late 2020, whereas others, such as the adoption of remote work and increased reliance on personal vehicles, persisted also in the later stage of the pandemic at rates that are considerably higher than the prepandemic patterns. We discuss the different impacts that the pandemic has had on different segments of the population, and the importance for public policies to react to these new circumstances not only to account for the modified mobility and travel behavior landscape but also considering the socioeconomic and equity implications underneath these impacts.

Comparing COVID-19 in the antipodes: Insights from pandemic containment strategies on both sides of the Pacific.

That the COVID-19 pandemic is unprecedented in terms of its scale, spread and shocks can be evinced by the myriad of ever-changing responses cities all around the world have rolled out throughout the different waves of outbreaks. Although the threat is similar across the world, it took some time before its reach became global and the waves of outbreak are experienced by cities at different times. While this staggered spread imply that some cities might manage the virus better as they learn from the experiences of cities which had been amongst the earliest to face the virus, the reality is more complicated. In the early stages of the pandemic, the global consensus on the best way to contain the virus swiftly converged in the interlinked strategies of restricting the movement of people and minimizing their social contact. However, the effectiveness of these strategies differ greatly between cities. To that end, this study focuses on COVID-19 responses in two regions (Latin America and Southeast Asia) and examines the evolution of the first wave of COVID-19 outbreaks during 2020 in Singapore, Jakarta (Indonesia), Bogotá (Colombia) and Santiago (Chile). The study is based on a comparative approach and uses a variety of data sources, namely morphology, density, housing concentration, mobility, and governance in the four analyzed cities. The goal is to shed light on the response of city governments in these two different regions in terms of mobility restrictions in order to reduce the cases of new infections. The results show the relevance of urban policies and their territorial approaches, particularly in terms of mobility and public transport networks in the four cities.

The increase in online shopping during COVID-19: Who is responsible, will it last, and what does it mean for cities?

The COVID-19 pandemic and ensuing lockdown measures have led to an increase in e-shopping. Using longitudinal data from before and during the pandemic, we find that the number of respondents who shop online at least once per week increased nearly five-fold between Fall 2019 (11.6%) and Spring 2020 (51.2%). We conduct a series of ordered logistic regressions to establish who is responsible for this recent rise in e-commerce and to determine whether it will be temporary or longer-lasting. We then discuss the equity implications and urban and regional restructuring that this change in e-shopping behavior may entail.