Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on daily travel: Findings from New South Wales, Australia

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused major disruptions to people’s daily life and travel. This paper aims to reveal the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on people’s travel in New South Wales (NSW), Australia, and to explore potential measures to recover public transport patronage in the new normal. Research data is collected from a survey of 1,045 residents in NSW, Australia between October 2021 and May 2022. Results show that travel behaviors are significantly different during the pandemic compared to the pre-COVID and the new normal periods. Multiple key factors affecting travelers’ choices in terms of travel mode, travel purpose and their acceptance of emerging mobilities like on-demand transport, autonomous vehicles and drones are identified, including age group, residential area, household status (e.g., couple family with children), household income, need for travel assistance, and travel-related attitude towards health and safety. The research findings suggest that emerging mobilities could provide potential solutions to transport services in a pandemic scenario.