Research Provides Insights into Pandemic Effects on Traffic and Traffic SafetyPosted: Oct 4, 2023
They found that crash frequency was significantly less than pre-pandemic levels during the entire course of the pandemic. However, crash frequency increased during the latter stage of the pandemic because of relaxed restrictions. Crash severity levels increased during the earlier stages of the pandemic due to the increased speed, prevalence of DUI, reduced seat belt use, and increased presence of commercial vehicles, but later returned to pre-pandemic levels. Vehicular traffic decreased during the early stage of the pandemic because of government restrictions and individuals' risk perception in traveling, but increased as travel restrictions were relaxed and COVID vaccines became available. They also found that truck traffic at the latter stage of the pandemic was higher than before the pandemic because of the growth of online shopping and on-demand delivery. The research provides valuable insights into how the pandemic affected traffic, contributing to more effective transportation planning and decision-making, and introduces a new way to predict traffic using a mix of machine learning and graph theory. Pan Lu, Ph.D. |