Revealing human mobility trends during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic in Nigeria via a data-driven approach

The article focuses on evaluating the effectiveness of non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) and travel restrictions in containing the spread of SARS-CoV-2. Topics include the effectiveness of NPIs in delaying and containing the spread of the virus, the usefulness of travel restrictions in the early stages of an outbreak, and the importance of data sources such as surveys and smartphone location data in studying the impact of NPIs on human mobility.

Resilience and recovery of public transport use during COVID-19

To better understand how public transport use varied during the first year of COVID-19, we define and measure travel behavior resilience. With trip records between November 2019 and September 2020 in Kunming, China, we identify people who relied on traveling by subway both before and after the first pandemic wave. We investigate whether and how travelers recover to their pre-pandemic mobility level. We find that public transport use recovered slowly, as urban mobility is a result of urban functionality, transport supply, social context, and inter-personal differences. In general, urban mobility represents a strengthened revisiting tendency during COVID-19, as individual's trips occur within a more limited space. We confirm that travel behavior resilience differs by groups. Commuters recover travel frequency and length, while older people decrease frequency but retain activity space. The study suggests that policymakers take group heterogeneity and travel behavior resilience into account for transport management and city restoration.

The impact of COVID-19 on academic aeromobility practices: Hypocrisy or moral quandary?

Academics have long regarded air travel as vital to pursuing a successful career. Meanwhile, many academics are at the frontline of climate change science and advocate the urgency to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The conflict between combating global warming and high aeromobility practices traps academics in a loop of hypocrisy. However, COVID-19 presents an opportunity for academics to advance their research and careers with reduced aeromobility. This research investigates how academics have adapted to virtual working experiences during COVID-19 and the implications for establishing changes in aeromobility practices. Informed by the theory of practice change, this paper reports the findings of a comprehensive survey and interview programme in New Zealand. It provides insights into the prospects for reduced aeromobility and the institutional policy frameworks required to embed a new normal, considering the unique circumstances faced by academics working at geographically remote institutions. The findings reveal that instead of being trapped in a loop of hypocrisy, New Zealand academics face a moral quandary in being concerned about climate change and wishing to reduce aeromobility practices, while wanting to avoid compromising career success. Recommendations for academics to face this moral quandary and their institutions to support practice change are proposed. [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Mobilities is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)

Considering the complexities of virtual student mobility as an approach to inclusive internationalisation in the post-pandemic period

The COVID-19 pandemic increased virtual student mobility as an elective choice and an emergency solution. Whether brought on by the pandemic or encouraged as a solution for more sustainable international education programming, virtual student mobility is a complex method for making internationalisation more inclusive. This qualitative research examines 16 Erasmus students' experiences with emergency virtual student mobility during the COVID-19 pandemic, alongside a reflective assessment of two scholar-practitioners. Findings revealed three themes: teaching and learning challenges, the burden of environmental code-switching, and deficient intercultural socialisation as a result of missed experiences. Overall, results and findings show that some virtual student mobility programs were perceived as a concrete challenge, disappointment, and inadequate learning experience for Erasmus students. The results also challenge the purported inclusiveness of virtual student mobility programs. The paper concludes with the need to reconsider virtual student mobility as inclusive internationalisation, and offers concrete implications for policy, practice, and research.

Assessing perceptions of pedestrian-focused intervention in a car-dependent European island

Apart from the numerous social, economic, and environmental impacts of car dependence, the time people spend sitting in motorised vehicles has been identified as a sedentary behaviour that can negatively impact people's physical and psychological health. The climate breakdown and the COVID-19 pandemic have continued to expose the fragility and vulnerability of the urban environment and the imminent need for response, management, and radical re-thinking through innovation, especially within the transport sector. The incidence of the COVID-19 pandemic has also reiterated the need for urban centres to re-establish a sense of community, extend the benefits reaped from reduced motorised transport usage and boost small/medium-size businesses through the provision of active travel spaces. This paper investigates the role of pedestrian-focused intervention to encourage walking rather than car use for short-distance trips, within the context of the car-dependent small island state of Malta. The research includes the use of semi-structured interviews with a broad range of stakeholders to develop a virtual platform for citizen participation. The platform is an interactive space for participants to identify barriers that discourage walking and explore and evaluate options that encourage walking as a mode of transport. A discussion of preliminary findings sheds light on the impact of pedestrian interventions that encourage active travel and contribute policy-relevant outcomes based on the perceptions and direct feedback from citizens and stakeholders alike. © 2023 The Authors. Published by ELSEVIER B.V.

Leaving: Residential mobility and housing conditions in France during the Covid-19 epidemic

In the spring of 2020, a national lockdown was declared in France to control the Covid-19 epidemic - the longest and strictest to date. This led to spontaneous population movements, widely publicised in the media as the urban exodus of Parisians. But were departures from large cities to low-density areas the only types of mobility during this period? And what can we learn from housing changes during lockdown about the ordinary residential practices and dwelling conditions of households, as well as about the resources mobilised to cope with these exceptional situations? Based on the EpiCOV survey (Inserm-Drees), conducted in France among a sample of 135,000 people aged 15 and over at the end of the first lockdown, this article examines the different types of residential mobility that took place in the spring of 2020 on French territory. While this study does not predict whether or not these movements are to become permanent, or whether they would be repeated during further phases of lockdown, it highlights the heterogeneity of mobility practices, captured here in terms of distance travelled, changes within the urban gradient, types and conditions of housing, as well as the variety of resources mobilised according to sex, age and social position of individuals. While long-distance mobility more often concerns wealthy populations, local movements are almost as frequent and concern more heterogeneous fractions of the population. © 2023 Geographie-Cites. All rights reserved.

Post-Pandemic Onset Trends for Public School English Learners in Virginia. COVID-19 Impacts Research Brief Series No. 3

The COVID-19 pandemic impacted the educational experiences of diverse student populations throughout the country and among Virginia public schools. English Learners (ELs) had a unique set of needs and services prior to the pandemic, and potentially were more vulnerable to pandemic-related disruptions in typical school operations than other student groups. We analyze statewide, student-level administrative data on the composition of the EL population, the identification for and reclassification out of EL services, and the exit of ELs from public school enrollment in kindergarten through grade twelve between the 2010-11 and 2020-21 school years to examine changes between the pre-pandemic period and first post-pandemic onset year (2020-21). Our key findings include the following: (1) Following the onset of the pandemic, the number of students classified as EL decreased for the first time in a decade. Specifically, whereas the number of students classified as EL increased by 26.0% (25,171 more students) between 2010-11 and 2019-20, the number of students classified as EL decreased by 3.2% (3,852 fewer students) between 2019-20 and the first post-pandemic onset year (2020-21). (2) There was a 21.6% decline (6,223 fewer students) in the number of Virginia K-12 public school students newly identified for EL services in 2020-21 as compared to 2019-20. The drop in new EL identification occurred across student groups, but was largest among Hispanic students, economically disadvantaged students, and ninth graders. (3) The number of EL students reclassified as fully English proficient decreased by 57.3% (8,169 fewer students) in 2020-21 as compared to the pre-pandemic period. This decline is nearly three times the size of the previous largest year-to-year change. The drops in reclassification among ELs occurred across student groups and were somewhat larger among Hispanic and economically disadvantaged students. (4) EL students' exits from Virginia public schools in the post-pandemic onset were a continuation of pre-pandemic trends and did not meaningfully vary by race/ethnicity, economically disadvantaged status, or disability status.

Internationalization of higher education during and after COVID-19: Crossing Borders on a flying carpet

As a response to the impact of economic globalization on academia, internationalization of higher education has gained momentum in the past few decades. The COVID-19 pandemic, however, seems to have posed an unprecedented challenge to it. Governments have restricted mobility across borders as a measure to curb the spread of the virus, making it less appealing, if not impossible, for students to venture into studying abroad. Against this backdrop, this chapter introduces and explores a way out of this impasse. It questions the validity of dividing internationalization efforts into the two categories of "abroad and at home" and introduces emerging categories. Such categories primarily rely on the use of information and communication technology tools to enable students to pursue international education despite the current global health concerns. It also discusses how collaborative online international learning, as an approach to virtual mobility, can be a solution for internationalization of higher education during a global crisis and beyond. © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021. All rights reserved.

Restricting Human Movement During the COVID-19 Pandemic: New Research Avenues in the Study of Mobility, Migration, and Citizenship: IMR

Every government in the world introduced restrictions to human mobility – that is, the movement of persons across and within state borders – in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Such restrictions thus constituted a global phenomenon, but they were by no means globally uniform;rather, they varied significantly between and within states, as well as over time. This research note presents different data sources for studying the drivers and outcomes of mobility restrictions, highlighting specific ways in which the data can be used. We begin by surveying seven new databases capturing various aspects of the regulation of human movement during the COVID-19 pandemic. Drawing inspiration from research on previous pandemics, we then outline five possible research avenues prompted by these data. We suggest that explaining the causes and consequences of such restrictions, as well as the differences between them, can significantly advance research on the governance of mobility, migration, and citizenship.

Cyber-Physical Modeling of Intelligent Traffic Controllers Using Simulator for Urban Mobility (SUMO)

Transportation problems have always been a global concern. The challenges in traffic congestion were easily observed during pre-pandemic times. However, traffic congestion still persists even during the COVID-19 pandemic (2020 and present) where there has been less number of vehicles because of travel restrictions. The emergence of wireless communication technologies and intelligent transportation systems (ITS) pave the way for solving some of the problems found in the transportation industry. Subsequently, traffic control systems are used at various intersections to manage the flow of traffic and reduce car collisions. However, some intersections are better off without these traffic control systems. The proposed study will analyze a T-junction road in five different setups using different types of traffic controllers. The simulation tool used is SUMO. The study found that an adaptive or vehicle-actuated traffic controller is the ideal method for regulating traffic flow in a T-junction with a one-way or two-way main road. It was observed in the simulation that it reduced the potential car collisions in the non-TL junction. However, the average speed and completion time of the road network was affected by the method. © 2022 IEEE.

Urban mobility evolution and the 15-minute city model: from holistic to bottom-up approach

In recent years, urban planners have mentioned the importance of implementing alternative city models that encourage short trips and neighborhood-scale activities such as the 15-minute city model. Several studies show that improvements in the transportation networks encourage the citizens to move themselves into their neighborhoods' borders. People seem to respond to these actions by increasing their visits to many local places such as restaurants, bars, sports centres etc. Even though during the post-covid era, people decreased significantly their movements, it is vital to encourage the creation of friendly for walking transportation networks inside the neighborhoods of the cities, based on the concept of the 15-minute city model. Large cities are becoming bigger and bigger as they offer many job opportunities. However, the massive peoples' relocation in big cities has as a result the creation of huge transportation problems. Neighborhoods have been downgraded as they were not ready to offer several services in larger populations. The 15-minute city model is designed to ensure that each citizen has quick access (15 minutes on foot) to essential services of various types. Moreover, the implementation of the 15-minute city model demands the strengthening of transportation networks promoting sustainable solutions that can support the daily walking of the habitants. This paper focuses on a literature review of the implementation of the 15-minute city model in different big cities worldwide, starting from Paris where the model is indeed a well-suited concept and focuses to the need of a cultural change rather than urban planning. The research points out not only the fact that this model can help the neighborhoods to grow up socioeconomically but the fact that the citizens can cooperate with the local authorities and participate in the redesign of their neighborhood based on the 15-minute city model. © 2023 The Authors. Published by ELSEVIER B.V.

Tracking the Transit Divide: A Multilevel Modelling Approach of Urban Inequalities and Train Ridership Disparities in Chicago

Using a multilevel modelling approach, this study investigates the impact of urban inequalities on changes to rail ridership across Chicago's "L” stations during the pandemic, the mass vaccination rollout, and the full reopening of the city. Initially believed to have an equal impact, COVID-19 disproportionally impacted the ability of lower socioeconomic status (SES) neighbourhoods' to adhere to non-pharmaceutical interventions: working-from-home and social distancing. We find that "L” stations in predominately Black or African American and Hispanic or Latino neighbourhoods with high industrial land-use recorded the smallest behavioural change. The maintenance of higher public transport use at these stations is likely to have exacerbated existing health inequalities, worsening disparities in users' risk of exposure, infection rates, and mortality rates. This study also finds that the vaccination rollout and city reopening did not significantly increase the number of users at stations in higher vaccinated, higher private vehicle ownership neighbourhoods, even after a year into the pandemic. A better understanding of the spatial and socioeconomic determinants of changes in ridership behaviour is crucial for policymakers in adjusting service routes and frequencies that will sustain reliant neighbourhoods' access to essential services, and to encourage trips at stations which are the most impacted to revert the trend of declining public transport use.

The Burden and Autonomy of Women in the IT-BPO Industry in Metropolitan Manila: Under the COVID-19 Pandemic

The purpose of this chapter is to discuss how the COVID-19 pandemic affects the lives and household responsibilities of women in the IT-BPO industry in the Philippines. The growth of the industry has created possibilities for university-educated women in adversity to upgrade their lives, enhance their autonomy, and achieve upward mobility. Through online interviews with female workers/former workers in IT-BPOs in Metropolitan Manila, the author explores their gendered contribution and responsibility in households both prepandemic and during the pandemic, while paying attention to differences in both according to life stage. This study suggests the possibility that young female IT-BPO workers from low-income households, who tend to be economically responsible for their families, are more vulnerable to the pandemic. © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2023.

Mobility and Recovery in Europe: Impact of the Covid-19 Crisis A European Comparative Analysis

Further to a first benchmark study covering new mobility behaviours and their impact on the road infrastructure, carried out by the European Union Road Federation (ERF), the Confederation of International Contractor's Associations (CICA), the French Federation of Public Works (FNTP), the European Construction Industry federation (FIEC) and Routes de France in 2019-2020, the same group published a second study in September 2021. The objective of that second study was to give a picture of the impact of the crisis caused by the pandemic on the mobility and transport sectors in 11 European countries (Belgium, Croatia, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom) The approach was to compare the evolution of mobility before and after the emergence of the health crisis. In addition, it would analyse the way in which European countries have adapted their support for transport infrastructures, further to an analysis of National Recovery and Resilience Plans, based on the European Recovery Plan ("Next Generation EU"). Beyond the main trends observed and their impact on mobility patterns and habits, the group also made recommendations on the role of road in the global mobility framework and the necessary adaptation of the road transport infrastructure. © 2023 The Authors. Published by ELSEVIER B.V.

Can Destination Cards Help to Shape Areas' Sustainability?

This paper examines whether destination cards can simultaneously serve tourists' needs and sustainability goals. It provides useful insights for tourism authorities and policymakers in designing a smart tourist card that meets the needs of tourists while preserving and supporting areas' wellbeing. Taking Thessaloniki city as a case study, a tourist survey, designed based on the key features of European destination cards, was implemented to identify needs and motivations. Interesting insight was revealed: tourists want to self-explore the city, are coming with their families, are history-lovers and gastronomy-keen, and are strongly willing to be provided with a destination card offering unlimited access to public transport. The latter reveals an opportunity for the city;the tourists are willing to use sustainable mobility options, which means that a base of sustainable travelling exists. The proposed Thessaloniki smart card can bring together tourists' needs with the city's sustainability goals;the development of tourist packages, including sustainable mobility provisions, walking-talking tours, and bike rentals, should be the backbone of the card. The next challenge for the city is to build a cooperation network to support this smart destination card implementation and promotion.

An actuarial model of the economic cost of the first year of a pandemic and the community mobility index

The COVID-19 pandemic significantly affected world economics. Thus, to anticipate the possibility of a future pandemic, it is crucial to find a proper way to simulate and estimate the cost of a pandemic, which is critical to the economy and welfare. This paper presents an actuarial Susceptible-Infected-Recovered and Death (SIR-D) multiple-state model that estimates the cost of a pandemic through the Cost-of-Illness (COI) analysis for both individual and regional levels. The model can be used to design financial products anticipating future pandemics. Formulas are constructed for two categories of COI, i.e., direct costs and productivity losses. The COIs are calculated annually and weekly throughout the year 2020. We also build and analyze multiple regression models that picture the relationships between community mobility and the amount of economic burden. We apply the model to studying the USA, India, Indonesia, Canada, Australia, and Taiwan. Indonesia, India, and the USA have the world-largest populations. In addition, Australia and Taiwan were known to apply strict border control, tracking, and quarantine in 2020. The models indicate moderate to high correlations between community mobility and economic burden during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. © 2023, ICIC International. All rights reserved.

The Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Population Mobility in the Czech Republic and Slovakia

In this scientific paper, the authors address the issue of mobility and the spread of COVID-19, as well as the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and changes in the mobility of the population of the Czech Republic and Slovakia in 2020. The goal of the study is to determine whether the increase in the number of positive cases of COVID-19 and the associated increase in deaths influences changes in various categories of population mobility at the regional level in selected countries. The aim of the work is to empirically assess the impact of the first year of the pandemic on the mobility of the population. To achieve this, data on population mobility obtained from Google Statistics, together with information on the increase in the number of positive cases and the number of deaths caused by COVID-19 from both countries, were combined. The paper interprets and evaluates the results achieved, providing a picture of the course of the pandemic in the territories of the Czech Republic and Slovakia. © 2023 Jozef Majerčák et al.

Urban Mobility in the Postpandemic Stage: A Comprehensive Investigation of a Variety of Cities in China

The global outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has affected the urban mobility of nations around the world. The pandemic may even have a potentially lasting impact on travel behaviors during the post-pandemic stage. China has basically stopped the spread of COVID-19 and reopened the economy, providing an unprecedented environment for investigating post-pandemic travel behaviors. This study conducts multiple investigations to show the changes in travel behaviors in the post-pandemic stage, on the basis of empirical travel data in a variety of cities in China. Specifically, this study demonstrates the changes in road network travel speed in 57 case cities and the changes in subway ridership in 26 case cities. Comprehensive comparisons can indicate the potential modal share in the post-pandemic stage. Further, this study conducts a case analysis of Beijing, where the city has experienced two waves of COVID-19. The variations in travel speed in the road network of Beijing at different stages of the pandemic help reveal the public's responses towards the varying severity of the pandemic. Finally, a case study of the Yuhang district in Hangzhou is conducted to demonstrate the changes in traffic volume and vehicle travel distance amid the post-pandemic stage based on license plate recognition data. Results indicate a decline in subway trips in the post-pandemic stage among case cities. The vehicular traffic in cities with subways has recovered in peak hours on weekdays and has been even more congested than the pre-pandemic levels;whereas the vehicular traffic in cities without subways has not rebounded to pre-pandemic levels. This situation implies a potential modal shift from public transportation to private vehicular travel modes. Results also indicate that commuting traffic is sensitive to the severity of the pandemic. This may be because countermeasures, e.g., work-from-home and suspension of non-essential businesses, will be implemented if the pandemic restarts. The travel speed in non-peak hours and on non-workdays is higher than pre-pandemic levels, indicating that non-essential travel demand may be reduced and the public's vigilance towards the pandemic may continue to the post-pandemic stage. These findings can help improve policymaking strategies in the post-pandemic new normal. © 2023 American Society of Civil Engineers.

Change detection of travel behavior: a case study of COVID-19

Travel behavior is important in many fields, such as urban management and disaster management. Since the breakout of COVID-19, many people have changed their preference in travel, which is called travel behavior pattern, to respond to the impact of COVID-19. Understanding when, how, and why people change their travel behavior patterns is significant for antiepidemic and estimating the impact of COVID-19 on human society. However, most current studies ignore that travel behavior is multi-dimensions, and it can be a barrier to understanding travel behavior change. To fill up the vacuum of current research, we used an online Bayesian change detection method to detect individual travel behavior pattern change from big mobile trajectory data. For the low data quality problem caused by various and uneven, we design a novel Monte Carlo data grading framework to assess data quality and filter useable data and thus avoid unreliable results. The analysis result shows Tokyo experienced 6 phases of travel behavior change since 2020, and the change was driven by policies to some extent, especially in the frequency dimension and spatial dimension. Also, the correlation analysis indicates the correlation between four travel behavior dimension dimensions, and the infection number provides us with knowledge about how people will make a change in their travel behavior in the COVID-19 period. © 2023 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.