IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/vrs/reoecp/v22y2022i4p317-332n1.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Travel behaviour changes during the pandemic: Prague-Pilsen rail case study

Author

Listed:
  • Surmařová Simona
  • Vrána Martin

    (Department of Geography, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, Kotlářská 267/2, 611 37, Brno, Czech Republic)

  • Ilík Jan

    (Czech Railways, Nábřeží Ludvíka Svobody 1222, Praha 1, 110 15, Czech Republic)

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected many aspects of our everyday lives. Governments have taken numerous measures to contain the spread of the pandemic, which has had a direct impact on daily mobility, modal choice and the function of public transport. This study uses quantitative and qualitative data to describe how the pandemic influenced travel on the Prague-Pilsen (Praha-Plzeň) railway line. The results of the case study on the Prague-Pilsen railway line are consistent with experiences in other countries. 38% decrease in passenger numbers was found between 2019 and 2020. Although numbers are increasing again, they still have not reached the pre-pandemic level. The number of connections has also decreased by a third on average (2019 to 2020). We also conducted in-depth interviews with train passengers on the above-mentioned route. Two-thirds of passengers stated that the frequency of their journeys had not been affected by the pandemic. However, like the other participants, they described other changes caused by the pandemic. Fear of infection played an important role, and the inconvenience of overcrowding was mentioned several times. The switch from buses to trains was mentioned, as was the fact that more and more travellers prefer to travel first class. In some cases, changes in the temporality of trips were also documented. The survey suggests that respondents travel less frequently by train for systematic, functional, health or social reasons.

Suggested Citation

  • Surmařová Simona & Vrána Martin & Ilík Jan, 2022. "Travel behaviour changes during the pandemic: Prague-Pilsen rail case study," Review of Economic Perspectives, Sciendo, vol. 22(4), pages 317-332, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:vrs:reoecp:v:22:y:2022:i:4:p:317-332:n:1
    DOI: 10.2478/revecp-2022-0015
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.2478/revecp-2022-0015
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.2478/revecp-2022-0015?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Eisenmann, Christine & Nobis, Claudia & Kolarova, Viktoriya & Lenz, Barbara & Winkler, Christian, 2021. "Transport mode use during the COVID-19 lockdown period in Germany: The car became more important, public transport lost ground," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 103(C), pages 60-67.
    2. Mimi Sheller & John Urry, 2000. "The City and the Car," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(4), pages 737-757, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Cameron White, 2016. "The conditions of practical action: Neoliberalism and sustainability in the Australian road construction industry," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 34(8), pages 1501-1515, December.
    2. Ferreira, Sara & Amorim, Marco & Lobo, António & Kern, Mira & Fanderl, Nora & Couto, António, 2022. "Travel mode preferences among German commuters over the course of COVID-19 pandemic," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 126(C), pages 55-64.
    3. Oluwayemi-Oniya Aderibigbe & Trynos Gumbo, 2022. "Variations in Mode Choice of Residents Prior and during COVID-19: An Empirical Evidence from Johannesburg, South Africa," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(24), pages 1-18, December.
    4. Chunguang Liu & Xinyu Zuo & Xiaoning Gu & Mengru Shao & Chao Chen, 2023. "Activity Duration under the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Comparative Analysis among Different Urbanized Areas Using a Hazard-Based Duration Model," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(12), pages 1-28, June.
    5. Daniel Albalate & Xavier Fageda, 2022. ""Have Low Emission Zones slowed urban traffic recovery after Covid-19?"," IREA Working Papers 202222, University of Barcelona, Research Institute of Applied Economics, revised Dec 2022.
    6. Shuai Yu & Bin Li & Dongmei Liu, 2023. "Exploring the Public Health of Travel Behaviors in High-Speed Railway Environment during the COVID-19 Pandemic from the Perspective of Trip Chain: A Case Study of Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei Urban Agglomera," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(2), pages 1-22, January.
    7. Humpe, Andreas & Gössling, Stefan & Haustein, Sonja, 2022. "Car careers: A socio-psychological evaluation of aspirational automobile ownership," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 164(C), pages 156-166.
    8. Yusuf Sofiyandi & Yusuf Reza Kurniawan & Khoirunurrofik & Prayoga Wiradisuria & Dikki Nur Ahmad Saleh, 2021. "Quantifying the Impacts of COVID-19 Mobility Restrictions on Ridership and Farebox Revenues: The Case of Mass Rapid Transit in Jakarta, Indonesia," LPEM FEBUI Working Papers 202162, LPEM, Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Indonesia, revised 2021.
    9. Junxi Qian, 2015. "No right to the street: Motorcycle taxis, discourse production and the regulation of unruly mobility," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 52(15), pages 2922-2947, November.
    10. Miwa Matsuo, 2020. "Carpooling and drivers without household vehicles: gender disparity in automobility among Hispanics and non-Hispanics in the U.S," Transportation, Springer, vol. 47(4), pages 1631-1663, August.
    11. Farber, Steven & Páez, Antonio, 2009. "My car, my friends, and me: a preliminary analysis of automobility and social activity participation," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 17(3), pages 216-225.
    12. Ayona Datta, 2014. "Gendered Nature and Urban Culture: The Dialectics of Gated Developments in Izmir, Turkey," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38(4), pages 1363-1383, July.
    13. Jonas Larsen, 2017. "The making of a pro-cycling city: Social practices and bicycle mobilities," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 49(4), pages 876-892, April.
    14. Luca Nitschke, 2020. "Reconstituting Automobility: The Influence of Non-Commercial Carsharing on the Meanings of Automobility and the Car," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(17), pages 1-20, August.
    15. Lebastard, Laura & Matani, Marco & Serafini, Roberta, 2023. "GVC exporter performance during the COVID-19 pandemic: the role of supply bottlenecks," Working Paper Series 2766, European Central Bank.
    16. Wilson, Adam & Mitra, Raktim, 2020. "Implementing cycling infrastructure in a politicized space: Lessons from Toronto, Canada," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).
    17. Thombre, Anurag & Agarwal, Amit, 2021. "A paradigm shift in urban mobility: Policy insights from travel before and after COVID-19 to seize the opportunity," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 335-353.
    18. Hirschhorn, Fabio & Paulsson, Alexander & Sørensen, Claus H. & Veeneman, Wijnand, 2019. "Public transport regimes and mobility as a service: Governance approaches in Amsterdam, Birmingham, and Helsinki," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 130(C), pages 178-191.
    19. Gordon Waitt & Theresa Harada, 2012. "Driving, Cities and Changing Climates," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 49(15), pages 3307-3325, November.
    20. Beck, Matthew J. & Hensher, David A. & Nelson, John D., 2021. "Public transport trends in Australia during the COVID-19 pandemic: An investigation of the influence of bio-security concerns on trip behaviour," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 96(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    COVID-19; public transport; travel behaviour; human mobility; railway;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • R40 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Transportation Economics - - - General
    • R41 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Transportation Economics - - - Transportation: Demand, Supply, and Congestion; Travel Time; Safety and Accidents; Transportation Noise
    • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:vrs:reoecp:v:22:y:2022:i:4:p:317-332:n:1. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Peter Golla (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.sciendo.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.