Impacts of COVID-19 on Travel Behaviors: The Case of Izmir

Abstract

With the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic, passenger preferences for transportation modes and transportation management strategies have rapidly changed in the last few years. In this study, field research was conducted to reveal the behaviors and perceptions of passengers before and during the COVID-19 pandemic in Izmir city of Turkey. A total of 1437 participants were asked to evaluate the pre and during pandemic periods with their frequency of use for different types of transportation modes in Izmir. When the results of the study were evaluated holistically, it was revealed that the participants used environmentally friendly transportation modes such as bicycles and e-bikes more than before the pandemic and that they wanted to use them after the pandemic. Despite this, it is seen that the use of taxis and private vehicles has increased during the pandemic, especially for long-distance trips, and the use of public transport and light rail systems (LRS) in general has decreased. Nearly half of respondents (49.7%) said bus drivers did not use adequate protective equipment during the pandemic. In addition, 41.1% of the participants stated that the HES code application was not applied adequately in public transportation. In the study, it was also revealed that the practice of reducing the number of operational public transport vehicles during the pandemic was found to be negative by the participants.