The outbreak of the novel coronavirus COVID-19 has brought profound changes to almost every aspect of transportation. C2SMART researchers have launched new initiatives to observe how transportation systems are being affected. Current research efforts have focused on:
- Short-term passenger travel trends in affected cities during the pandemic
- Long-term changes to mode choice and travel patterns during the recovery
- The effect of social distancing policies on transit use and mobility patterns
- Freight, logistics, and supply chain impacts in response to the pandemic
- Economic impacts on agencies’ revenue collection and operating/capital budgets
The objective is to understand the short-term and long-term impact of the pandemic on behavior and travel trends, develop results-oriented approaches to aid decision-making, and provide actionable insights to enhance the resiliency of transportation systems in the face of future disease outbreaks.
Leveraging open data from multiple data sources, the C2SMART research team has put together a white paper based on information collected in March 2020, one month into the COVID-19 pandemic in the U.S. This white paper provides initial impacts of COVID-19 on transportation systems in metropolitan New York, the U.S. epicenter of the coronavirus, before and after issuance of stay-at-home orders.
This paper reflects the Center’s perspective as of April 3rd, 2020 based on data collected in March 2020. C2SMART researchers are continuing to collect data, including perishable mobility, safety, and behavior data, and will continue to monitor these trends and regularly update our findings as this crisis unfolds.