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

Abstract

The COVID-19 disease continues to cause unparalleled disruption to life and the economy world over. This paper is the second in what will be an ongoing series of analyses of a longitudinal travel and activity survey. In this paper we examine data collected over a period of late May to early June in Australia, following four-to-six weeks of relatively flat new cases in COVID-19 after the initial nationwide outbreak, as many state jurisdictions have begun to slowly ease restrictions designed to limit the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. We find that during this period, travel activity has started to slowly return, in particular by private car, and in particular for the purposes of shopping and social or recreational activities. Respondents indicate comfort with the idea of meeting friends or returning to shops, so authorities need to be aware of potential erosion of social distancing and appropriate COVID-safe behaviour in this regard. There is still a concern about using public transport, though it has diminished noticeably since the first wave of data collection. We see that working from home continues to be an important strategy in reducing travel and pressure on constrained transport networks, and a policy measure that if carried over to a post-pandemic world, will be an important step towards a more sustainable transport future. We find that work from home has been a generally positive experience with a significant number of respondents liking to work from home moving forward, with varying degrees of employer support, at a level above those seen before COVID-19. Thus, any investment to capitalise on current levels of work from home should be viewed as an investment in transport.

Keywords: Attitudes; Behaviours; COVID-19; Coronavirus; Employer support; Household surveys; Longitudinal study; Travel activity; Working from home (WFH).

Fig. 1

Daily new cases of COVID-19 in Australia.

Fig. 2

Ongoing timeline of key COVID-19 events.

Fig. 3

CityMapper mobility index weekly averages.

Fig. 4

Google mobility report weekly averages for Australia.

Fig. 5

Impact of COVID-19 on reported household weekly trips.

Fig. 6

Reported weekly household trips by mode.

Fig. 7

Reported weekly household trips by purpose.

Fig. 8

Changes to use of active modes and motor vehicle.

Fig. 9

Reported weekly household trips by mode.

Fig. 10

a and b: Impact of COVID-19 restrictions on work and pay.

Fig. 11

a and b: Impact of COVID-19 on household employment.

Fig. 12

Number of days worked in last week.

Fig. 13

Number of days worked from home last week.

Fig. 14

Type of physical work environment.

Fig. 15

Concern about COVID-19 given work environment.

Fig. 16

Ability to work from home.

Fig. 17

Hours of work completed when working from home.

Fig. 18

Hours of work completed when working from home.

Fig. 19

Benefits and challenges of working from home.

Fig. 20

Online meetings and relative effectiveness.

Fig. 21

Attitudes about work from home and flexible work.

Fig. 22

Work from Home has been a Positive Experience.

Fig. 23

Days wanting to work.

Fig. 24

Days wanting to work from home.

Fig. 25

Days wanting to work from home as proportion of days worked.

Fig. 26

Workplace conversations about working from home (WFH).

Fig. 27

Support for work from home (WFH).

Fig. 28

Appropriate number of days for staff to work from home.

Fig. 29

Productivity of staff (and others) while working from home.

Fig. 30

Workplace policy for work from home by occupation.

Fig. 31

Number of days worked from home in last week by occupation.

Fig. 32

Number of days like to work from home in the future by occupation.

Fig. 33

Workplace policy for work from home by work environment.

Fig. 34

Number of days worked from home in last week by work environment.

Fig. 35

Number of days like to work from home in the future by work environment.

Fig. 36

Use of COVIDSafe track and trace application.

Fig. 37

Reasons for not using COVIDSafe.

Fig. 38

Level of comfort in completing different activities.

Fig. 39

Level of agreement with statements regarding COVID-19.

Fig. 40

Risk of COVID-19 to human and economic health.