Investigating the Impact of COVID-19 on Commuting Using Survey Data

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has left no sector of society untouched since first emerging in December 2019. Transportation, as one such sector, has been dramatically impacted. The switch to telecommuting completely changed the face of commuting, and shared commute modes now come with the possible danger of COVID-19 transmission. A survey was created to help answer two questions that have arisen during this time. How will the COVID-19 pandemic affect commute mode choice during and after the pandemic? How do the policies in place throughout various phases of the pandemic affect commuters’ actions and preferences? The Fall 2020 survey of the Vanderbilt community got over 3,500 complete responses (28% response rate). The results include data comparison to other surveys, insight gained from examining policies in place alongside temporal data, and exploration of how commute mode choice and commute mode share have been impacted by the pandemic. These results, along with other knowledge collected on how COVID-19 is impacting transportation, help create more reliable and resilient transportation systems for the future.