Long Term Impacts of Covid-19 on Travel

COVID-19 has created a global impact on travel as cities shutdown to avoid contamination. Its impact on public transport is enormous as travel demand has almost vanished and safety remains a key concern for the future.

But what will the impact of Covid-19 be in the future when the virus has gone?

This project aims to “understand changes to travel caused by COVID-19 and their long-term implications for Melbourne and its infrastructure”

The new theoretical contribution to knowledge concerns the impact of significant shocks to travel caused by major events like the C-19 crisis. From a planning practice a major benefit of the project is a better understanding of travel demand futures.The project has three analytical components

Melbourne travel impact monitoring: a. Pre-Shutdown b. Shutdown c. Post Shutdown and d. Post Pandemic
Forecasting post pandemic impacts is a central focus of the research
In about a year which is either c. Post Shutdown or d. Post Pandemic ; checking actual changes and how they might inform our forecasting methodology

Mechanisms to explain observed travel changes, and which may help predict changes into the future, will be explored using theories from:

Travel behaviour change
Impacts of life course events on habitual travel where relevant
Impacts of unplanned events (strikes, disasters)

The project has two major phases of primary research including interviews exploring impacts with members of the community and an extensive online questionnaire.

Links to recent ouputs: