How did COVID-19 shift time use patterns in Switzerland?

Abstract

This study investigates changes in time use and travel patterns in Switzerland during the COVID-19 pandemic using GPS data. We implemented the Multi-Dimensional Sequence Alignment Method to calculate inter-personal and intra-personal distance and how different activities in one day differed from the next, and cluster analysis to determine time-variant variables that caused time use pattern shift. This was followed by discrepancy analysis to investigate the effect of socio- demographics on travel behavior at different stages of the pandemic, and a panel effects regression model to determine the reasons behind time use patterns shift holistically. Our results suggest that attributes of the COVID-19 pandemic itself exerted the most significant impacts on travel behavior over the pandemic, and that travel behavior variation changed according to the imposed restrictions and health risks. People reacted differently to restrictions between the first and the second wave. Precipitation, temperature, and various socio-demographic factors also showed significant influence on travel behavior over the study period. The study results shed light on travel behavior at different time points during the pandemic, which can help policymakers understand how the imposed restrictions affected travel behavior and to what extent was the restriction effective, hence improving the decision-making in case of another national or international emergency.