ABSTRACT
The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted travel behaviours due to the need for movement restrictions. The restrictions adversely affected various aspects of health and the economy. This study aimed to investigate factors affecting trip frequency during the recovery period of the COVID-19 pandemic in Malaysia. An online national cross-sectional survey was conducted to collect data in conjunction with different movement restriction policies. The questionnaire includes socio-demographics, experience with COVID-19, risk perception of COVID-19, and trip frequency on several activities during the pandemic. Mann Whitney U was conducted to determine whether there were statistically significant differences between the socio-demographic factors for the respondents in the first and second surveys. Results show no significant difference in socio-demographic factors except for the level of education. The results indicate that the respondents from both surveys were comparable. Next, Spearman correlation analyses were conducted to find significant correlations between trip frequencies toward socio-demographics, experience with COVID-19 and risk perception. There was a correlation between the frequency of travel and risk perception for both surveys. Regression analyses were performed based on the findings to investigate trip frequency determinants during the pandemic. Perceived risk, gender, and occupation influenced the trip frequencies for both surveys. By understanding the influence of risk perception on the frequency of travel, the government can identify the appropriate policy during a pandemic or health emergency to avoid impeding normal travel behaviour. Thus, people's mental and psychological well-being are not negatively affected.
ABSTRACT
An aggregate analysis shows that undertaking fewer work and leisure trips during the pandemic had negative effects on mental health, but reducing trips to grocery shops, pharmacies and parks had the opposite effect, but there is a lack of studies on the effects of behaviour change on mental health using a disaggregate analysis. Beside mental health, a lockdown is assumed to cause social isolation, which is hypothesised to also deteriorate social health due to reducing one's time spent socialising. This study fills these research gaps and examines the effects of behaviour change on social and mental health during the pandemic. Travel restraints have been relaxed and tightened several times, but no study has investigated the behaviour changes and discrepancies in social and mental health between Malaysia's strict and relaxed periods. Around 438 respondents reported their behaviour changes during two different travel restraint periods and before the pandemic. This study confirms that the relaxation period caused a significant increase in the number of discretionary trips in Malaysia;however, the increase in discretionary trips did not have any significant effects in improving mental and social health. A disaggregate analysis showed that grocery shopping and socialising trips had negative effects on mental health, as opposed to previous studies using an aggregate analysis. Socialising trips, however, helped to improve the social health conditions.
ABSTRACT
The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in new postpandemic travel patterns as a result of the stay-at-home policies and restricted movement orders imposed by the Malaysian government. The purpose of this study was to investigate the changes in individual travel behavior after the government imposed a series of lockdowns, also known as movement control orders (MCO). From March to April 2021, a questionnaire survey was distributed throughout Malaysia, and 435 complete responses were collected. Results indicated that the respondents predominantly chose private cars for various traveling purposes during the pandemic. When choosing a travel mode during the pandemic, married respondents and essential workers placed a significantly higher priority on pandemic-related - items such as cleanliness, infection concern, social distance, and wearing face masks, compared to single respondents and nonessential workers. Binary logistic regression models were developed to estimate individuals’propensity to make trips for different purposes, i.e., work/study, social activities, recreational activities, and religious activities. Results indicated that essential workers were nearly three times more likely than the general population to make a work trip during the pandemic. Regarding social and recreational trips, males were more likely to make such types of trips as compared to females. Furthermore, those who perceived a higher risk of infection were less likely to make social and recreational trips. Regarding religious trips, males were significantly more likely to make such trips during the pandemic as compared to females. In addition, Muslims had significantly higher odds of making a trip for religious purposes during the pandemic. The findings of this study could be useful in transportation planning when considering travel restrictions during pandemics based on peoples’travel purposes and mode choices.