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

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

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.

Suggested Citation

  • 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).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:juecon:v:127:y:2022:i:c:s0094119022000031
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jue.2022.103426
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    2. Lee, Wang-Sheng & Tran, Trang My & Yu, Lamont Bo, 2022. "Dual Circulation and Population Mobility during the Pandemic in China," IZA Discussion Papers 15269, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    3. Yau‐Huo (Jimmy) Shr & Feng‐An Yang, 2023. "Public health crisis and risky road behaviors," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 32(6), pages 1205-1219, June.

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