Prawira Fajarindra Belgiawan examines the change in activities and associated travel during pandemic Covid-19

Teleworking and e-learning and attitudes toward Covid-19 directly affected activity-travel behavior changes. On the contrary, teleshopping did not contribute to reducing out-of-home activities during the Covid-19 pandemic.

It is known from an article written by Prawira Fajarindra Belgiawan as the author and Muhammad Zudhy Irawan, Tri Basuki Joewono, Faza Fawzan Bastarianto, Muhamad Rizki, Anugrah Ilahi as co-authors. The article “Exploring activity-travel behavior changes during the beginning of COVID-19 pandemic in Indonesia” was published in Transportation.

They examines the change in activities and associated travel during the beginning of Covid-19 pandemic in Indonesia. The study is particularly interested in analyzing the role of attitudes, descriptive norms, protective behaviors toward Covid-19, travel frequency before the pandemic, and spatial and individual characteristics on activity-travel behavior changes in relation to information and communication technology (ICT) use.

Data were obtained from 1062 respondents using a web-based questionnaire survey. Structural equation modeling was used to examine the complex relationships among variables. This study found that descriptive norms positively affected the frequency of travel during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Experience of ICT influenced a decline in travel frequency and ride-hailing use. Furthermore, although personal attributes insignificantly influenced activity-travel behavior change, these attributes directly affected ICT use.

Meanwhile, people living outside of Java Island had a higher travel frequency during the beginning of Covid-19 pandemic than their counterparts. Based on their findings, this study recommends that the very initial step in an emergency caused by a disaster be to massively socialize or educate people about the risk of the pandemic and to continue with a policy to minimize travel by encouraging teleworking and e-learning. Empowering ICT to support activities from home will beneficially minimize the spread of the pandemic.

For further information: Exploring activity-travel behavior changes during the beginning of COVID-19 pandemic in Indonesia | SpringerLink