Impact of COVID-19 on Urban Mobility and Parking Demand Distribution: A Global Review with Case Study in Melbourne, Australia

Biruk G. Mesfin, Daniel(Jian) Sun and Bo Peng
Additional contact information
Biruk G. Mesfin: State Key Laboratory of Ocean Engineering, School of Naval Architecture, Ocean and Civil Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, No. 800 Dongchuan Road, Min-Hang District, Shanghai 200240, China
Daniel(Jian) Sun: Smart City and Intelligent Transportation Interdisciplinary Center, College of Future Transportation, Chang’an University, Wei-Yang District, Xi’an 710021, China
Bo Peng: School of International and Public Affairs, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, No. 1954 Huashan Road, Xu-Hui District, Shanghai 200092, China

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 13, 1-15

Abstract: The tremendous impact of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) on societal, political, and economic rhythms has given rise to a significant overall shift from pre- to post-pandemic policies. Restrictions, stay-at-home regulations, and lockdowns have directly influenced day-to-day urban transportation flow. The rise of door-to-door services and the demand for visiting medical facilities, grocery stores, and restaurants has had a significant impact on urban transportation modal demand, further impacting zonal parking demand distribution. This study reviews the overall impacts of the pandemic on urban transportation with respect to a variety of policy changes in different cities. The parking demand shift was investigated by exploring the during- and post-COVID-19 parking policies of distinct metropolises. The detailed data related to Melbourne city parking, generated by the Internet of things (IoT), such as sensors and devices, are examined. Empirical data from 2019 (16 March to 26 May) and 2020 (16 March to 26 May) are explored in-depth using explanatory data analysis to demonstrate the demand and average parking duration shifts from district to district. The results show that the experimental zones of Docklands, Queensbery, Southbanks, Titles, and Princess Theatre areas have experienced a decrease in percentage change of vehicle presence of 29.2%, 36.3%, 37.7%, 23.7% and 40.9%, respectively. Furthermore, on-street level analysis of Princess Theatre zone, Lonsdale Street, Exhibition Street, Spring Street, and Little Bourke Street parking bays indicated a decrease in percentage change of vehicle presence of 38.7%, 56.4%, 12.6%, and 35.1%, respectively. In conclusion, future potential policymaking frameworks are discussed that could provide further guidance in stipulating epidemic prevention and control policies, particularly in relation to parking regulations during the pandemic.

Keywords: COVID-19; urban mobility; parking demand; IoT parking sensors; explanatory data analysis; parking policies (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/13/7665/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/13/7665/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:13:p:7665-:d:845653

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().