Exploring the travel behavior changes caused by the COVID-19 crisis: A case study for a developing country

This study aims to examine the extent to which SARS-Cov-2 and associated governmental interventions to mitigate virus transmission has affected daily travel decisions in Bangladesh. A questionnaire survey was used to record opinions of respondents hailing from diverse socio-economic backgrounds on trip number and mode preferences for a variety of trip purposes for “before” and “during” COVID-19 situation. This was used to assess changes in (i) trip frequencies, and (ii) travel mode preferences using contingency tables, ordinal logistic regression and Sankey diagrams. Analyses revealed that COVID-19 caused large variation in mode preferences but small variation in trip frequencies. Males still go outside for work and shopping, putting them at greater risk than females. COVID-19 has drastically cut recreational trips, but…