key: cord-1032610-s7g38qnr authors: Harrington, Deirdre M.; Hadjiconstantinou, Michelle title: Changes in commuting behaviours in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in the UK date: 2021-12-08 journal: J Transp Health DOI: 10.1016/j.jth.2021.101313 sha: 620a16a5d870e7dda58d3bc2dd81e0ae144c7430 doc_id: 1032610 cord_uid: s7g38qnr BACKGROUND: The UK Government restrictions on non-essential work in response to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic forced millions of working aged-adults into an unplanned lifestyle change. We present data on changes in commuting behaviour in response to COVID-19 and describe the facilitators and barriers to switching commuting behaviours, with a specific focus on cycling and walking. METHODS: An online survey queried individuals’ transport mode to/from work before and when becoming aware of COVID-19, when restrictions were in place and the transport mode they may use once restrictions are lifted. Free-form text responses were collected on why they may switch to a sustainable commute mode in the future and what would help/allow them to achieve this. Quantitative and qualitative data on those who commuted by car (single occupant) and public transport (bus/rail/park & ride) were analysed and presented separately. RESULTS: Overall, 725 car and public transport commuters responded; 72.4% were car commuters and 27.6% were public transport commuters before COVID-19. Of the car commuters, 81.9% may continue travelling by car once restrictions are lifted while 3.6% and 6.5% might change to walking and cycling, respectively. Of the public transport commuters, 49.0% might switch modes. From the free-form text responses three themes were identified: (a) perceived behavioural control towards cycling and walking (infrastructure and safety of roads, distance, weather) (b) key motivators to encourage a switch to cycling and walking (provision to support cycling, personal and environmental benefits); (c) the demands of current lifestyle (job requirements, family and lifestyle commitments). CONCLUSION: These UK data show how the COVID-19 pandemic has been an “external shock” causing some individuals to reassess their commuting mode. This provides an opportunity for theory-based behaviour change interventions tackling motivations, barriers and beliefs towards changing commute mode. The UK government has an ambition for cleaner air in neighbourhoods, streets and roads 2 (Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs and Department for Transport, 2017) 3 achieved through reductions in industry, home, farm and transport emissions (Department for 4 Environment Food and Rural Affairs, 2019). Funding for walking and cycling between 2016 and 5 2021 and cleaner transport vehicles were at the heart of the sustainable transport investments 6 (Department for Transport, 2017). An unplanned disruption in transport began when, on March 7 23 rd 2020, the UK Government launched their official response to the coronavirus disease 2019 8 (COVID-19) pandemic (UK Government, 2020). Restrictions on non-essential work meant that 9 millions of working-aged adults were forced into an unplanned lifestyle change. Travel to and 10 from work and to public transport hubs dropped significantly in the first two months (Google, 11 2020) with evidence to suggest that some of these trends will persist in favour of walking/cycling The first aim of this analysis was to present actual changes as well as the potential future 31 commuting behaviour of those who were public transport and car commuters before the COVID-32 19 pandemic. The second aim was to describe the facilitators and barriers reported by public 33 transport and car commuters to switching commuting behaviours. Participants were asked about their usual transport mode to/from work before becoming aware 42 of the COVID-19 threat. Separately, they were asked about commute mode at three different 43 time points. They reported on their commute mode when they first became aware of COVID-19 44 but before any official restrictions were put in place, the commute mode once official 45 J o u r n a l P r e -p r o o f Government restrictions were put in place and the commute mode they might use once UK 1 Government restrictions are lifted. The four questions had the same stem: 2 "We are interested in knowing whether transport modes changed once people became aware of 3 the COVID-19 threat and once the restrictions were put in place. Thinking about your journey to 4 and from work… 5 …what was your usual main mode of travel before you were aware of COVID-19?" 10 For all four questions participants could choose one from 11 options: walk; cycle; bus; park and 11 ride; rail; car (single occupant); car share (more than one person); motorcycle; taxi/ taxi app; 12 scooter; N/A or working from home; and an "other" option which included specifying any mixed 13 modes 14 Participants then had the opportunity to include free-form text responses to the following 15 questions which were developed ad hoc for this survey:  "If you have made any changes, why did you make them?"  "Think about whether you would like to/plan to use a sustainable mode of transport (e.g. 23 vulnerable category?" with responses of yes/no/prefer not to say) and lockdown employment 24 situation which included five common isolation and employment situations were also included 25 (see Table 1 for details). These questions were deployed as part of two online surveys (one specific to transport and one 27 specific to workplace health) hosted on the JISC Online Surveys platform (Jisc, Bristol, UK). In the analysis herein we were interested in knowing how two key commuter groups might 37 change their commuting behaviours once COVID-19 restrictions lifted. Therefore, we partitioned Quantitative categorical data are presented as frequency and percentages (%)as reported from 1 the online survey platform. No statistical analyses were conducted on quantitative data. The 2 qualitative data from the free-text questions were analysed using a thematic approach in 3 Microsoft Excel. We familiarised ourselves with the responses to get an idea of potential 4 themes, and searched for patterns across the free-form text sections. We used manual coding 5 with a colour-based code assigned to each theme. The patterns were reviewed and themes 6 were generated. Responses were organised under each heading until no new themes were 7 identified. 8 9 The results from the overall survey can be found online (Harrington and O' Connell, 2020 Of the 725 respondents, 72.4% were car (single occupant) commuters and 27.6% were public 24 transport commuters before COVID-19. Table 2 presents how respondents might travel to/from 25 work at three time points during the COVID-19 pandemic (stratified by commuting mode). As a 26 guide, 6% of public transport user switched to walking when they first became aware of the 27 COVID-19 threat, 26.0% switched to walking once official restrictions came into force and 9.0% 28 may commute on foot once restrictions are lifted. Of importance to transport planning are the results in the "future intentions" columns. Overall, three themes with sub-domains were identified from our analysis. Respondents were categorised as public transport public transport and carcar commuters with 14 whether they are male (M) or female (F), their ethnicity group and age group also listed. Respondents from both groups (public transport commuters and car commuters) reported 18 various barriers to switching to cycling and walking. These barriers were either currently 19 experienced by the respondents, or were perceived as barriers that they would experience, if 20 they were to choose cycling or walking over public transport or the car. Travel distance The commute distance was considered as a perceived barrier to switching to any type of 24 sustainable transport. Respondents reported travel distances from six to 60 miles which was a 25 barrier to changing transport mode. Long travel time and no direct routes are also barriers to 26 those respondents who have considered alternatives to using the car: J o u r n a l P r e -p r o o f The COVID-19 pandemic was an "external shock" forcing people into unplanned, temporary 34 changes to their lives. It is seen as an 'unprecedented opportunity' for a shift towards cycling Results from a representative sample of UK transport users in June 2020 found 8 that 65% of public transport users may switch to a car (presumably those who have access to a 9 car) (Systra, 2020a) when restrictions are lifted. This is much higher than the14.5% of public 10 transport users in our sample that might switch to the car. While our results provide reasons for 11 optimism they also emphasise the dominance of the private motor vehicle. The modern lifestyle in the UK is very much car dependent due to distances between the home 13 and the workplace, the convenience of combining more than one destination in one trip and the 14 lack of viable public transport options. Although the majority of car commuters likely will not be 15 in a position to change away from their car, they have recognised the benefits of cycling or 16 walking to work. There is evidence that they have a desire to change and have considered how 17 to make this happen in their own lives through identifying their own opportunity and capability. The demands and commitments in their lives are restricting their ability to adopt a new 19 commuting behaviour. We found indications that travel distance and their lifestyles means that a 20 switch of commute modes away from the car may not be possible for most respondents. The The commute to and from the workplace serves other lifestyle purposes such as dropping 24 children off to school or grocery shopping -so called 'trip-chaining' (Kitamura, 1983) . The devotion to the car is likely to continue while the safety concerns of public transport (Systra, 26 2020b; Transport Focus, 2020) remain. Contemporary data from Australia identified COVID-19 27 safety concerns on public transport with authors highlighting a "likely high aversion to public 28 transport at least in the short term" (Beck and Hensher, 2020). These safety concerns may force 29 those with the autonomy to switch from public transport to a car commute once a return to the 30 workplace resumes. This could results in an increase in emissions which could threaten the 31 achievement of UK air quality goals (i.e. reducing emissions via modal shift) (Department for 32 Environment Food and Rural Affairs, 2019). This may be offset by reduced car journeys by 33 those planning to work from home as our data suggests. Conversely, the desire to avoid public 34 transport could be a motivator for those who are primed to cycle or walk to work. Our data showing that 20% of public transport commuters and 10% of car commuters may cycle or walk 36 illustrates the potential for a change in transport behaviour, particular at peak commuting times, Uncovering and addressing barriers to cycling and walking to work during the COVID-19 36 pandemic provides a unique opportunity for an ingrained habit such as commuting mode to be 37 disrupted. This could be mapped on a psychological theory, known as the habit discontinuity intentions, plans and preferences to change commuting mode. We cannot definitively say that 38 respondents who replied that they might travel by bike or walk will indeed make that change in 39 commuting mode. We included free-form text sections to allow respondents to give more details 40 of their intentions, plans and preference. However, it is possible that respondents who were 41 more inclined to be thinking of a change in mode were more motivated to complete the survey Since March 2020, public transport and car commuters in the UK have faced changes to their 2 lives that may persist once restrictions are lifted. The COVID-19 pandemic is allowing people re-3 focus their lifestyle but the themes that emerged from our analysis show that a myriad of 4 barriers and motivators exist in car and public transport commuters who are thinking about 5 switching to an active commute mode. Some 20.5% of those who commuted by public transport 6 and 10.1% of those who commuted by car pre-pandemic may switch to walking or cycling once 7 restrictions lift. However, the predisposition towards the car still remains. COVID-19 will exist in 8 tandem with other public health crises such as mental health, obesity, and poor air quality. There is a unique and time-limited to put active and sustainable commuting modes at the 10 forefront of this refocus. 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Implementation science JTH editorial v17-The importance of psychosocial factors in transport 39 and health Quality attributes of public transport that 42 attract car users: a research review Leicester Health and Wellbeing Survey Passenger confidence in public transport post-Covid continues to decline, with 49 journeys expected to be replaced by the car Public transport passengers say they could make fewer trips after pandemic. 2 [Internet Transport Focus. 2020 Travel During COVID-19 Tracking Research Context change and travel mode 12 choice: Combining the habit discontinuity and self-activation hypotheses COVID-19: Public transport disruptions 16 and behaviour change We the undersigned declare that this manuscript is original, has not been published before and is not currently being considered for publication elsewhere.We confirm that the manuscript has been read and approved by all named authors and that there are no other persons who satisfied the criteria for authorship but are not listed. 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