The potential stickiness of pandemic-induced behavior changes in the United States

Salon, Deborah; Conway, Matthew Wigginton; Silva, Denise Capasso da; Chauhan, Rishabh Singh; Derrible, Sybil; Mohammadian, Abolfazl; Khoeini, Sara; Parker, Nathan; Mirtich, Laura; Shamshiripour, Ali; Rahimi, Ehsan; Pendyala, Ram M.

doi:10.1073/pnas.2106499118

Cited by 80 publications

(55 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…Subsequent academic literature refined these portraits. Telecommuting contributed to the class divide in who continued riding (3,10). Consistent with these findings, low-income riders did not reduce how often or how far they traveled by transit compared to other riders, despite the risks (10).…”

Section: Literaturesupporting

confidence: 53%

“…After decades of attempting to attract higher income, car owning 'choice riders' (1) and millennials (2), North American transit agencies are serving a decimated ridership of mostly transit-dependent travelers due to COVID-19. The popularity of telecommuting and suppressed discretionary trip-making signal long term difficulties for transit agencies seeking to attract former riders (3,4). This presents a major crisis for transit agencies in countries like Canada, where over half of operating costs are traditionally covered by fares (5), leading advocates to call for new means of transit finance to minimize service loss if ridership does not recover (6).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Second, it allows us to compare differences between socio-demographic groups on how they have continued to adapt to the crisis, and how they envision traveling in a postpandemic future. Unlike broader surveys (3,4), we focus exclusively on formerly regular transit users and their shifting attitudes about transit and vehicle ownership, as a switch to vehicle ownership could have negative implications for sustainability (14).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Facing the future of transit ridership: which riders bought a car; who is planning on riding less?

Palm¹,

Allen²,

Zhang³

et al. 2022

Preprint

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Public transit agencies face a transformed landscape of rider demand and political support as the COVID-19 pandemic continues. We explore people’s motivations for returning to or avoiding public transit a year into the pandemic. We draw on a March 2021 follow up survey of over 1,900 people who rode transit regularly prior to the COVID-19 pandemic in Toronto and Vancouver, Canada, and who took part in a prior survey on the topic in May, 2020. We model how transit demand has changed due to the pandemic, and investigate how this relates to changes in automobile ownership and its desirability. We find that pre-COVID frequent transit users between the ages of 18-29, a part of the so-called “Gen Z,” and recent immigrants are more attracted to driving due to the pandemic, with the latter group more likely to have actually purchased a vehicle. Getting COVID-19 or living with someone who did is also a strong and positive predictor of buying a car and anticipating less transit use after the pandemic. Our results suggest that COVID-19 heightened the attractiveness of auto ownership among transit riders likely to eventually purchase cars anyways (immigrants, twentysomethings), at least in the North American context. We also conclude that getting COVID-19 or living with someone who did is a significant and positive predictor of having bought a car. Future research should consider how the experiencing of having COVID-19 has transformed some travelers’ views, values, and behaviour.

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Section: Literaturesupporting

confidence: 53%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Facing the future of transit ridership: which riders bought a car; who is planning on riding less?

Palm¹,

Allen²,

Zhang³

et al. 2022

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…On the other hand, habits are vulnerable to disruptions of the environmental cues that trigger a given behavior 6 , and the COVID-19 pandemic has generated dramatic and sudden changes to everyday circumstances. Survey evidence from July-October 2020 finds that US adults expect longer term changes in their post-COVID work, travel, and exercise habits, including more walking and biking post-pandemic 7 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Lifestyle and mental health 1 year into COVID-19

Barbieri

Giuntella

Saccardo

et al. 2021

Sci Rep

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In previous work, Giuntella et al. (Proc Natl Acad Sci 118:e2016632118, 2021), we documented large disruptions to physical activity, sleep, time use and mental health among young adults at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in Spring 2020. This study explores the trends 1 year into COVID-19, as vaccines began to roll out, COVID-19 deaths declined, and social distancing measures eased in the United States. We combine biometric and survey data from multiple cohorts of college students spanning Spring 2019 through Spring 2021 (N = 1179). Our results show persistent impacts of the pandemic on physical activity and mental health. One year into the pandemic, daily steps averaged about 6300 per day compared to about 9800 per day prior to the pandemic, a 35% decline. Almost half of participants were at risk of clinical depression compared to a little over one-third prior to the pandemic, a 36% increase. The impacts on screen time, social interactions and sleep duration at the onset of COVID-19 largely dissipated over the course of the pandemic, though screen time remained significantly higher than pre-pandemic levels. In contrast to the sharp changes in lifestyle and mental health documented as the pandemic emerged in March 2020, we do not find evidence of behavioral changes or improvements in mental well-being over the course of Spring 2021 as the pandemic eased.

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“…Factors that can impact on energy intake and dietary behaviour including food accessibility, changes in work life, home life, stress and other health behaviours including sleep, physical activity, smoking and alcohol consumption have been affected by COVID-19 restrictions [4][5][6][7]. Closures of restaurants and fast food outlets, increased usage of food delivery services, changes in the affordability and availability of foods alongside disruptions to the home and working environment, as well as changes in employment status may all impact on diet behaviour during the pandemic [8][9][10][11][12][13]. Indeed, initial reports find that a significant proportion of adults have altered their food choices and dietary habits at the start of the pandemic compared to pre-pandemic food choices and habits [9,[14][15][16].…”

Section: What This Paper Addsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on diet behaviour among UK adults: a longitudinal analysis of the HEBECO study

Dicken

Mitchell

Vay

et al. 2021

Preprint

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COVID-19 pandemic restrictions impacted dietary habits during the initial months of the pandemic, but long-term effects are unclear. In this longitudinal study, self-selected UK adults (n=1,733) completed three online surveys (May-June, August-September and November-December 2020, with a retrospective pre-pandemic component in the baseline survey), self-reporting sociodemographics, lifestyle and behaviours, including high fat, salt and sugar (HFSS) snacks, HFSS meals and fruit and vegetable (FV) intake. Data were analysed using generalised estimating equations. Monthly HFSS snacks portion intake increased from pre-pandemic levels (48.3) in May-June (57.6, p<0.001), decreased in August-September (43.7, p<0.001), before increasing back to pre-pandemic levels in November-December (49.2, p<0.001). 48.5% self-reported increased (25.9 [95% confidence interval: 24.1, 27.8]) and 47.7% self-reported decreased (24.1 [22.4,26.0]) monthly HFSS snacks portion intakes in November-December compared with pre-pandemic levels. Monthly HFSS meals portion intake decreased from pre-pandemic levels (7.1) in May-June (5.9, p<0.001), being maintained in August-September (5.9, p=0.897), and then increasing again in November-December (6.6, p<0.001), to intakes that remained lower than pre-pandemic levels (p=0.007). 35.2% self-reported increased (4.8 [4.3, 5.3]) and 44.5% self-reported decreased (5.1 [4.6,5.6]) monthly HFSS meals portion intakes in November-December compared with pre-pandemic levels. The proportion meeting FV intake recommendations was stable from pre-pandemic through to August-September (70%), but decreased in November-December 2020 (67%, p=0.034). Increased monthly HFSS snacks intake was associated with female gender, lower quality of life, and - in a time-varying manner - older age and higher HFSS meals intake. Increased monthly HFSS meals intake was associated with female gender, living with adults only and higher HFSS snacks intake. Reduced FV intake was associated with higher body mass index (BMI) and lower physical activity. These results suggest large interindividual variability in dietary change during the first year of the pandemic, with important public health implications in individuals experiencing persistent increases in unhealthy diet choices, associated with BMI, gender, quality of life, living conditions, physical activity and other dietary behaviours.

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The potential stickiness of pandemic-induced behavior changes in the United States

Cited by 80 publications

References 7 publications

Facing the future of transit ridership: which riders bought a car; who is planning on riding less?

Facing the future of transit ridership: which riders bought a car; who is planning on riding less?

Lifestyle and mental health 1 year into COVID-19

Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on diet behaviour among UK adults: a longitudinal analysis of the HEBECO study

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