COVID-19 Mobility Data Collection of Seoul, South Korea

TL;DR

This paper presents high-resolution mobility datasets from Seoul during COVID-19, capturing trip modes and purposes for nearly 10 million citizens, to aid understanding of pandemic-related mobility changes without lockdowns.

Contribution

It provides comprehensive, high-resolution mobility data at a fine scale, focusing on trip modes and purposes during COVID-19 in Seoul, which was not previously available.

Findings

High-resolution mobility data collected for Seoul during COVID-19.

Data includes trip mode and purpose for nearly 10 million citizens.

Useful for public health decision making post-pandemic.

Abstract

The relationship between pandemic and human mobility has received considerable attention from scholars, as it can provide an indication of how mobility patterns change in response to a public health crisis or whether reduced mobility contributes to preventing the spread of an infectious disease. While several studies attempted to unveil such relationship, no studies have focused on changes in human mobility at a finer scale utilizing comprehensive, high-resolution data. To address the complex association between pandemic's spread and human mobility, this paper presents two categories of mobility datasets - trip mode and trip purpose - that concern nearly 10 million citizens' movements during COVID-19 in the capital city of South Korea, Seoul, where no lockdowns has been imposed. We curate hourly data of subway ridership, traffic volume and population present count at selected points of interests. The results to be derived from the presented datasets can be used as an important reference for public health decision making in the post COVID-19 era.