Insights into the Impact of COVID-19 on Bicycle Usage in Colorado Counties

TL;DR

This study analyzes how COVID-19 affected bicycle usage in Colorado counties, revealing that socio-economic factors like income and education significantly influenced changes in cycling behavior during and after the pandemic.

Contribution

It provides an empirical analysis of bicycle usage changes due to COVID-19, highlighting socio-economic variables impacting transportation behavior shifts.

Findings

Higher income correlates with increased bicycle use during the pandemic.

Education level influences the extent of change in cycling habits.

Population size affects the transition back to normal cycling patterns.

Abstract

Coronavirus, which emerged in China towards the end of 2019 and subsequently influenced the whole world, has changed the daily lives of people to a great extent. In many parts of the world, in both cities and rural areas, people have been forced to stay home weeks. They have only been allowed to leave home for fundamental needs such as food and health needs, and most started to work from home. In this period, very few people, including essential workers, had to leave their homes. Avoiding social contact is proven to be the best method to reduce the spread of the novel Coronavirus. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, people are adapting their behavior to this new reality, and it may change the type of public events people perform and how people go to these activities. Consumer behaviors have been altered during the pandemic. While people try to avoid gatherings, they also stayed away from mass transport modes and turned to private modes of transportation more -- private cars, private taxis and bike-sharing systems; even walking became more popular. In this study, we attempt to analyze how the use of bicycling has changed -- pre- and post-pandemic -- using open data sources and investigating how socio-economics characteristics affect this change. The results showed that average income, average education level, and total population are the most crucial variables for the Pandemic to Transition period and the Transition to the Normalization period.