JUE insight: Demand for transportation and spatial pattern of economic activity during the pandemic

Kong-Pin Chen, Jui-Chung Yang and Tzu-Ting Yang

Journal of Urban Economics, 2022, vol. 127, issue C

Abstract: Using traffic data from Taiwan for 2020, we quantify how the COVID-19 outbreak affected demand for public and private transportation. Despite there being no governmental restrictions, substantial shifts in travel modes were observed. During the peak of the pandemic in Taiwan within the study period (mid-March 2020), railway ridership declined by 40% to 60%, while highway traffic volume increased by 20%. Furthermore, railway ridership was well below pre-pandemic levels, though there were no locally transmitted cases in the eight-month period from mid-April to December. These changes in traffic patterns had implications for spatial patterns of economic activity: retail sales and nighttime luminosity data show that during the pandemic, economic activity shifted away from areas in the vicinity of major railway stations.

Keywords: COVID-19; Transportation mode; Spatial pattern of economic activity (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:juecon:v:127:y:2022:i:c:s0094119022000031

DOI: 10.1016/j.jue.2022.103426

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