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JUE Insight: The Geography of Travel Behavior in the Early Phase of the COVID-19 Pandemic

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  • Brinkman, Jeffrey
  • Mangum, Kyle

Abstract

We use U.S. county-level location data derived from smartphones to examine travel behavior and its relationship with COVID-19 cases in the early stages of the outbreak. People traveled less overall and notably avoided areas with relatively larger outbreaks. A doubling of new cases in a county led to a 3 to 4 percent decrease in trips to and from that county. Without this change in travel activity, exposure to out-of-county virus cases could have been twice as high at the end of April 2020. Limiting travel-induced exposure was important because such exposure generated new cases locally. We find a one percent increase in case exposure from travel led to a 0.21 percent increase in new cases added within a county. This suggests the outbreak would have spread faster and to a greater degree had travel activity not dropped accordingly. Our findings imply that the scale and geographic network of travel activity and the travel response of individuals are important for understanding the spread of COVID-19 and for policies that seek to control it.

Suggested Citation

  • Brinkman, Jeffrey & Mangum, Kyle, 2022. "JUE Insight: The Geography of Travel Behavior in the Early Phase of the COVID-19 Pandemic," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 127(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:juecon:v:127:y:2022:i:c:s0094119021000668
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jue.2021.103384
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    Cited by:

    1. Boto-García, David, 2023. "Investigating the two-way relationship between mobility flows and COVID-19 cases," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 118(C).
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    3. Chen, Xi & Qiu, Yun & Shi, Wei & Yu, Pei, 2022. "Key links in network interactions: Assessing route-specific travel restrictions in China during the Covid-19 pandemic," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).
    4. Chen, Kong-Pin & Yang, Jui-Chung & Yang, Tzu-Ting, 2022. "JUE insight: Demand for transportation and spatial pattern of economic activity during the pandemic," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 127(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Travel behavior; Mobility; COVID-19 pandemic; Spatial dynamics; Spatial networks; Smartphone location;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • R11 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - Regional Economic Activity: Growth, Development, Environmental Issues, and Changes
    • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health
    • H11 - Public Economics - - Structure and Scope of Government - - - Structure and Scope of Government

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