Impact analysis of COVID-19 on travel behavior and mode preferences of Hong Kong residents

Abstract

The outbreak of COVID-19 and the unprecedented policies issued by the government have compelled citizens to reshape their daily travel behavior. Questionnaires were designed to obtain three main related indicators of socio-economic and demographic characteristics, primary travel purposes and patterns, and factors influencing mode choice to explore the impact of the pandemic on travel behavior and mode preferences of urban residents. By applying the online survey method with Snowball sampling techniques, a total of 591 valid questionnaire responses from Hong Kong residents were received in the designated time period. Then, the non-parametric test methods (e.g., McNemar-Bowker test and Mann-Whitney U test) were employed to implement the statistical analysis. Traffic administrators can use the survey findings to adjust current policies or delineate new policies to align with the passenger travel behavior. This will ensure more fluid and safer transportation.