Do Post-Pandemic Travel Shifts Warrant Changes to California’s Transportation Policies and Plans

Project Description

Since the 2000s, the rise of remote working, online shopping, gaming and streaming has led to Americans spending more time at home and getting out and traveling less. These changes had been gradually evolving prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, but they accelerated substantially thereafter and currently remain at much higher levels than before the pandemic. These enduring changes imply a long-term decline in personal travel and simultaneously an increase in commercial travel from rising demand for delivery services. These apparently ongoing trends suggest that transportation policy and management may need to shift to meet the changing travel demands and needs of people and goods, while promoting environmental and equity goals.

This project examines these issues by 1) synthesizing existing quantitative evidence on post-pandemic travel patterns through a meta-analysis of the literature and assessing the policy, planning, and operational implications of these trends, and 2) interviewing transportation leaders and managers and equity advocates about how these trends are affecting both the public and private sectors and local communities. The project uses the information gleaned from both steps to consider specific changes to transportation policy and planning practices at the state, regional, and/or local levels in California.