Patrick Loa presented “Exploring the Impacts of COVID-19 on Modality Styles for Non-Mandatory Trips in the Greater Toronto Area” on February 26, 2021. In his seminar, Loa looked at pre-pandemic versus pandemic modality styles for non-mandatory trips.
A non-mandatory trip refers to non-school or non-work travel. This includes trips to carry out errands like grocery shopping, or going to personal appointments. Generally, non-mandatory trips can be re-scheduled when needed and/or may be carried out remotely from home.
A mandatory trip refers to travel that is rigidly scheduled and can’t be changed, such as going to work or school.
Loa set out to answer three main questions with his research:
- How has the pandemic affected modality styles for non-mandatory trips?
- Have new modality styles emerged during the pandemic?
- Which members of the population have been most impacted?
He examined data from two web-based surveys of GTA residents carried out in July, 2020: the Stated Preference Experiment on Travel mode and especially Transit choice behavior (SPETT); and the Study into the use of Shared Travel Modes (SiSTM).
Comparing the pre-pandemic to the pandemic modality styles, Loa concludes that the pandemic has indeed changed modality styles for non-mandatory trips. Private vehicles are playing a greater role in mobility, while transit is playing a lesser role. There is more walking, and use of public transit has decreased.
Loa’s analysis also shows that the pandemic has had a greater impact on the mobility and accessibility of those who don’t have access to a private vehicle, and believes that policy interventions can help ensure those without private vehicle access can continue to travel as safely as possible.
Further research is needed to determine whether these changes will persist post-pandemic.
More about this research
- Loa, Patrick, Sanjana Hossain, Yicong Liu, Sk. Md. Mashrur, Khandker Nurul Habib, “How has COVID-19 Impacted Ride-sourcing use in the Greater Toronto Area? Results from the first cycle of the SiSTM satellite survey,” August, 2020.
- Mashrur, Sk. Md., Kaili Wang, Sanjana Hossain, Patrick Loa, Khandker Nurul Habib, “An Assessment of the Impacts of COVID-19 Lockdown in Summer 2020 on Transit Use in the Greater Toronto Area: Results from the Cycle-1 of SPETT Satellite Survey,” August, 2020.
Patrick Loa is a PhD student in Civil Engineering at the University of Toronto, under the supervision of Professor Khandker Nurul Habib. His research primarily focuses on travel demand modelling and the study of the impacts of emerging modes of mobility. Patrick earned both his MASc and BASc at the University of Toronto.
Presented by the University of Toronto ITE Student Chapter, UT-ITE.