Insights into the impact of COVID-19 on household travel and activities in Australia – The early days under restrictions

Abstract

When 2020 began, we had no idea what was to unfold globally as we learnt about the Novel-Coronavirus in Wuhan, in the Hubei province of China. As this virus spread rapidly, it became a matter of time before many countries began to implement measures to try and contain the spread of the disease. COVID-19 as it is referred to, resulted in two main approaches to fighting the viral pandemic, either through a progressive set of measures to slow down the number of identified cases designed to ‘flatten the curve’ over time (anticipated to be at least six months), or to attack it by the severest of measures including a total lock-down and/or herding exposure to fast track ‘immunisation’ while we await a vaccine. The paper reports the findings from the first phase of an ongoing survey designed to identify the changing patterns in travel activity of Australian residents as a result of the stage 2 restrictions imposed by the Australian government. The main restrictions, in addition to social distancing of at least 1.5 m, are closure of entry to Australia (except residents returning), and closure of non-essential venues such as night clubs, restaurants, mass attendee sporting events, churches, weddings, and all social gatherings in any circumstance. With some employers encouraging working from home and others requiring it, in addition to job losses, and many children attending school online from home, the implications on travel activity is extreme. We identify the initial impacts associated with the first month of stricter social distancing measures introduced in Australia.

Highlights

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  General support for the actions of government and business.

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  Widespread suppression of travel demand for all trip purposes across all modes.

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  Sizeable shift to working from home by those who can.

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  Public transport will face the largest hurdles in regaining confidence.

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  Retail and food logistics will need to examine distribution processes

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  The aviation sector will likely need to restart with a heavy focus on domestic travel.

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  Public transport will need to take overt measures to restore confidence.

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  The dominance of the car is further enforced in the context of biosecurity concerns.

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  Active transport is a viable option for short inner-city trips.

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  Infrastructure investment should be carefully considered.

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  Flexible working arrangements are perhaps the biggest policy lever available to governments.