RESUMEN
The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in significant social and economic impacts throughout the world. In addition to the health consequences, the impacts on travel behavior have also been sudden and wide ranging. This study describes the drastic changes in human behavior using the analysis of highway volume data as a representation of personal activity and interaction. Same-day traffic volumes for 2019 and 2020 across Florida were analyzed to identify spatial and temporal changes in behavior resulting from the disease or fear of it and statewide directives to limit person-to-person interaction. Compared to similar days in 2019, overall statewide traffic volume dropped by 47.5%. Although decreases were evident across the state, there were also differences between rural and urban areas and between highways and arterials both in terms of the timing and extent. The data and analyses help to demonstrate the early impacts of the pandemic and may be useful for operational and strategic planning of recovery efforts and for dealing with future pandemics.
RESUMEN
This paper presents a protocol for a clustered, randomized controlled trial (RCT) in transportation planning. RCTs are still unusual in transportation planning, and this is the first RCT transportation protocol we are aware of seeking publication in a peer-reviewed journal. The trial tests a mobility-as-a-service app aimed at shifting mode choice to campus among an intervention student population while also tracking in parallel the mode choices of the control group. The concept behind the intervention is to leverage information and marketing to shift students' intentions relative to their travel to campus, following Azjen’s Theory of Planned Behavior. The app, which is custom developed under the guidance of the research team, facilitates students' trips to campus by transit, biking, walking, and ride-hailing. An intended secondary outcome of the intervention is improved academic outcomes among students in the intervention group. The research team developed the protocol through a literature review of campus-based travel demand management measures, then by vetting a draft protocol with an expert panel, and then through a series of survey pilots. The advent of COVID- 19 in the middle of the research project demonstrated the challenges of planning a real-world RCT where researchers have limited ability to control exogenous factors.
RESUMEN
The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in significant social and economic impacts throughout the world. In addition to the health consequences, the impacts on travel behavior have also been sudden and wide ranging. This study describes the drastic changes in human behavior using the analysis of highway volume data as a representation of personal activity and interaction. Same-day traffic volumes for 2019 and 2020 across Florida were analyzed to identify spatial and temporal changes in behavior resulting from the disease or fear of it and statewide directives to limit person-to-person interaction. Compared to similar days in 2019, overall statewide traffic volume dropped by 47.5%. Although decreases were evident across the state, there were also differences between rural and urban areas and between highways and arterials both in terms of the timing and extent. The data and analyses help to demonstrate the early impacts of the pandemic and may be useful for operational and strategic planning of recovery efforts and for dealing with future pandemics.