Urban Transportation in the United States During the COVID-19 Pandemic

This paper aims to perform initial research into transportation patterns in the continental U.S. during the COVID-19 pandemic. In order to do this, I will apply methods from previous research on data collected during the pandemic era, and then compare this to pre-COVID data to see if there are any relevant conclusions. This research would allow us to see how cities in the U.S. have responded to the COVID crisis in terms of urban mobility, and if there are lessons to be learned for future pandemics. With initial observations, the most reasonable conclusion to draw is that, although COVID-19 has impacted transportation, along with most other areas of life in the U.S., that these changes in transportation patterns do not change the fundamental predictors of urban mobility that we have seen in previous research. Although specific data points and overall measures of travel characteristics may change, many of the underlying patterns remain roughly the same.