IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/transa/v159y2022icp263-281.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Analyzing COVID-19’s impact on the travel mobility of various social groups in China’s Greater Bay Area via mobile phone big data

Author

Listed:
  • Pan, Yu
  • He, Sylvia Y.

Abstract

The COVID-19 outbreak has significantly impacted people’s mobility in terms of travel, which is directly related to regional economic vitality and individuals’ well-being. This study conducted research on the COVID-19 epidemic’s impact on travel mobility in China’s Greater Bay Area, utilizing mobile phone big data. The overall influence of COVID-19 was measured by investigating the impact between different income and migration groups in three core cities: Shenzhen, Guangzhou, and Foshan. Individuals’ weekly travel frequency and activity space area between December 2019 and May 2020 were calculated, and the average values between the different cities and various social groups were compared. The results showed that travel mobility declined during the epidemic’s peak, followed by a recovery based on the overall trend. The start and end of strict law enforcement had a significant impact on the initial decline and subsequent recovery of travel mobility in the core cities. COVID-19 had a larger impact on core cities than peripheral areas, and on non-commute travel frequency, compared to commute travel frequency. Compared to advantaged groups, socially disadvantaged groups experienced a steeper decline in travel mobility during the epidemic’s peak, but a more significant recovery afterwards. These findings indicate that discretionary activities have not yet recovered and remain below the pre-epidemic level, and that disadvantaged social groups had limited access to superior precautionary measures for avoiding infection. Based on the findings, we provide several policy suggestions regarding the recovery of travel mobility.

Suggested Citation

  • Pan, Yu & He, Sylvia Y., 2022. "Analyzing COVID-19’s impact on the travel mobility of various social groups in China’s Greater Bay Area via mobile phone big data," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 159(C), pages 263-281.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:transa:v:159:y:2022:i:c:p:263-281
    DOI: 10.1016/j.tra.2022.03.015
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0965856422000623
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.tra.2022.03.015?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
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Zhang, Linfeng & Yang, Hangjun & Wang, Kun & Zhan, Yi & Bian, Lei, 2020. "Measuring imported case risk of COVID-19 from inbound international flights --- A case study on China," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    2. Lades, Leonhard K. & Kelly, Andrew & Kelleher, Luke, 2020. "Why is active travel more satisfying than motorized travel? Evidence from Dublin," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 136(C), pages 318-333.
    3. Lin, Tao & Wang, Donggen, 2014. "Social networks and joint/solo activity–travel behavior," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 18-31.
    4. Wong, Yale Z. & Hensher, David A. & Mulley, Corinne, 2020. "Mobility as a service (MaaS): Charting a future context," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 131(C), pages 5-19.
    5. Xinliang Xu & Shihao Wang & Jinhui Dong & Zhicheng Shen & Shuwan Xu, 2020. "An analysis of the domestic resumption of social production and life under the COVID-19 epidemic," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(7), pages 1-15, July.
    6. Santi Phithakkitnukoon & Zbigniew Smoreda & Patrick Olivier, 2012. "Socio-Geography of Human Mobility: A Study Using Longitudinal Mobile Phone Data," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 7(6), pages 1-9, June.
    7. Ramachander, Sangamitra, 2016. "The price sensitivity of mobile use among low income households in six countries of Asia," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 40(7), pages 673-691.
    8. Hamish Gibbs & Yang Liu & Carl A. B. Pearson & Christopher I. Jarvis & Chris Grundy & Billy J. Quilty & Charlie Diamond & Rosalind M. Eggo, 2020. "Changing travel patterns in China during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 11(1), pages 1-9, December.
    9. Leung, Abraham & Le, Thi Phuong Linh, 2019. "Factors associated with adolescent active travel: A perceptive and mobility culture approach – Insights from Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 123(C), pages 54-67.
    10. Tao, Sui & He, Sylvia Y. & Kwan, Mei-Po & Luo, Shuli, 2020. "Does low income translate into lower mobility? An investigation of activity space in Hong Kong between 2002 and 2011," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    11. Modarres, Ali, 2003. "Polycentricity and transit service," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 37(10), pages 841-864, December.
    12. Kerstens, K., 1996. "Technical efficiency measurement and explanation of French urban transit companies," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 30(6), pages 431-452, November.
    13. Aleta, Alberto & Hu, Qitong & Ye, Jiachen & Ji, Peng & Moreno, Yamir, 2020. "A data-driven assessment of early travel restrictions related to the spreading of the novel COVID-19 within mainland China," Chaos, Solitons & Fractals, Elsevier, vol. 139(C).
    14. Jussi S. Jauhiainen, 2020. "Biogeopolitics of COVID‐19: Asylum‐Related Migrants at the European Union Borderlands," Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie, Royal Dutch Geographical Society KNAG, vol. 111(3), pages 260-274, July.
    15. Stanley, John K. & Hensher, David A. & Stanley, Janet R. & Vella-Brodrick, Dianne, 2011. "Mobility, social exclusion and well-being: Exploring the links," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 45(8), pages 789-801, October.
    16. Vella-Brodrick, Dianne A. & Stanley, Janet, 2013. "The significance of transport mobility in predicting well-being," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 29(C), pages 236-242.
    17. Ron N. Buliung & Pavlos S. Kanaroglou, 2006. "Urban Form and Household Activity‐Travel Behavior," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(2), pages 172-199, June.
    18. Jayson S. Jia & Xin Lu & Yun Yuan & Ge Xu & Jianmin Jia & Nicholas A. Christakis, 2020. "Population flow drives spatio-temporal distribution of COVID-19 in China," Nature, Nature, vol. 582(7812), pages 389-394, June.
    19. Zhang, Shihang & Moeckel, Rolf & Moreno, Ana Tsui & Shuai, Bin & Gao, Jie, 2020. "A work-life conflict perspective on telework," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 141(C), pages 51-68.
    20. Xinjun Lai & Qixiang Zhang & Qingxin Chen & Yunbao Huang & Ning Mao & Jianjun Liu, 2019. "The analytics of product-design requirements using dynamic internet data: application to Chinese smartphone market," International Journal of Production Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 57(18), pages 5660-5684, September.
    21. Mattioli, Giulio & Anable, Jillian & Vrotsou, Katerina, 2016. "Car dependent practices: Findings from a sequence pattern mining study of UK time use data," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 89(C), pages 56-72.
    22. Herminghaus, Stephan, 2019. "Mean field theory of demand responsive ride pooling systems," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 15-28.
    23. Stanley, John & Stanley, Janet & Balbontin, Camila & Hensher, David, 2019. "Social exclusion: The roles of mobility and bridging social capital in regional Australia," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 125(C), pages 223-233.
    24. Wang, Shenhao & Zhao, Jinhua, 2017. "The distributional effects of lotteries and auctions—License plate regulations in Guangzhou," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 106(C), pages 473-483.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Pan, Yu & He, Sylvia Y., 2023. "An investigation into the impact of the built environment on the travel mobility gap using mobile phone data," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 108(C).
    2. 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.
    3. Chen, Ruoyu & Zhang, Min & Zhou, Jiangping, 2023. "Jobs-housing relationships before and amid COVID-19: An excess-commuting approach," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 106(C).
    4. Min Su & Baoyang Hu & Yipeng Jiang & Zhenchao Zhang & Zeyang Li, 2022. "Relationship between the Chinese Main Air Transport Network and COVID-19 Pandemic Transmission," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 10(13), pages 1-17, July.
    5. Kwang-Sub Lee & Jin Ki Eom, 2024. "Systematic literature review on impacts of COVID-19 pandemic and corresponding measures on mobility," Transportation, Springer, vol. 51(5), pages 1907-1961, October.
    6. Yongji Ma & Jinliang Xu & Chao Gao & Xiaohui Tong, 2022. "Impacts of COVID-19 Travel Restriction Policies on the Traffic Quality of the National and Provincial Trunk Highway Network: A Case Study of Shaanxi Province," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(15), pages 1-21, July.
    7. Wang, Yucheng & Gao, Yanan, 2022. "Travel satisfaction and travel well-being: Which is more related to travel choice behaviour in the post COVID-19 pandemic? Evidence from public transport travellers in Xi’an, China," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 166(C), pages 218-233.
    8. Ling, Changlong & Niu, Xinyi & Yang, Jiawen & Zhou, Jiangping & Yang, Tianren, 2024. "Unravelling heterogeneity and dynamics of commuting efficiency: Industry-level insights into evolving efficiency gaps based on a disaggregated excess-commuting framework," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 115(C).
    9. Xiao, Weiye & Li, Han & Yuan, Feng & Chen, Wen, 2024. "The 2-month lockdown and commuting behavior transformation in Shanghai: A phone signal data-based analysis," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 150(C), pages 149-161.

    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. Pan, Yu & He, Sylvia Y., 2023. "An investigation into the impact of the built environment on the travel mobility gap using mobile phone data," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 108(C).
    2. John Stanley & Janet Stanley, 2023. "Improving Appraisal Methodology for Land Use Transport Measures to Reduce Risk of Social Exclusion," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(15), pages 1-18, August.
    3. Stanley, John K. & Hensher, David A. & Stanley, Janet R. & Vella-Brodrick, Dianne, 2021. "Valuing changes in wellbeing and its relevance for transport policy," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 16-27.
    4. Haseeb, Attiya & Mitra, Raktim, 2023. "Do environmentally sustainable travel behaviours contribute to transportation-related social exclusion?," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 113(C).
    5. Morris, Eric A. & Blumenberg, Evelyn & Guerra, Erick, 2020. "Does lacking a car put the brakes on activity participation? Private vehicle access and access to opportunities among low-income adults," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 136(C), pages 375-397.
    6. Abouelela, Mohamed & Durán-Rodas, David & Antoniou, Constantinos, 2024. "Do we all need shared E-scooters? An accessibility-centered spatial equity evaluation approach," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 181(C).
    7. David Cao & John Stanley & Janet Stanley, 2017. "Indicators of Socio-Spatial Transport Disadvantage for Inter-Island Transport Planning in Rural Philippine Communities," Social Inclusion, Cogitatio Press, vol. 5(4), pages 116-131.
    8. Li, Tao & Rong, Lili & Zhang, Anming, 2021. "Assessing regional risk of COVID-19 infection from Wuhan via high-speed rail," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 106(C), pages 226-238.
    9. Md. Kamruzzaman & Tan Yigitcanlar & Jay Yang & Mohd Afzan Mohamed, 2016. "Measures of Transport-Related Social Exclusion: A Critical Review of the Literature," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(7), pages 1-30, July.
    10. Kębłowski, Wojciech & Dobruszkes, Frédéric & Boussauw, Kobe, 2022. "Moving past sustainable transport studies: Towards a critical perspective on urban transport," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 159(C), pages 74-83.
    11. Utsunomiya, Kiyohito, 2020. "The impact of regional railways on travel behaviour and social capital," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    12. He, Sylvia Y. & Thøgersen, John & Cheung, Yannie H.Y. & Yu, Alesia H.Y., 2020. "Ageing in a transit-oriented city: Satisfaction with transport, social inclusion and wellbeing," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 97(C), pages 85-94.
    13. Jie Zhang & Yang Xie, 2015. "Optimal Intra-Urban Hierarchy of Activity Centers—A Minimized Household Travel Energy Consumption Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(9), pages 1-19, August.
    14. Stanley, John & Stanley, Janet & Balbontin, Camila & Hensher, David, 2019. "Social exclusion: The roles of mobility and bridging social capital in regional Australia," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 125(C), pages 223-233.
    15. Lowe, Christopher & Stanley, Janet & Stanley, John, 2020. "Transport industry adapting to change: An Australian case study," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    16. Wang, Yucheng & Gao, Yanan, 2022. "Travel satisfaction and travel well-being: Which is more related to travel choice behaviour in the post COVID-19 pandemic? Evidence from public transport travellers in Xi’an, China," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 166(C), pages 218-233.
    17. Orru, Kati & Poom, Age & Nordlund, Annika, 2019. "Socio-structural and psychological factors behind car use: Comparing Northern and Eastern Europe," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 313-325.
    18. Tao, Sui & He, Sylvia Y. & Kwan, Mei-Po & Luo, Shuli, 2020. "Does low income translate into lower mobility? An investigation of activity space in Hong Kong between 2002 and 2011," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    19. Wang, Jing & Cai, Jianping & Yue, Xiaohang & Suresh, Nallan C., 2021. "Pre-positioning and real-time disaster response operations: Optimization with mobile phone location data," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 150(C).
    20. Lovejoy, Kristin, 2012. "Mobility Fulfillment Among Low-car Households: Implications for Reducing Auto Dependence in the United States," Institute of Transportation Studies, Working Paper Series qt4v44b5qn, Institute of Transportation Studies, UC Davis.

    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:eee:transa:v:159:y:2022:i:c:p:263-281. 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: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/547/description#description .

    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.