CHANGES IN THE DEMAND FOR PUBLIC TRANSPORT CAUSED BY THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC IN TOLEDO – PARANÁ

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic had impacts on several socioeconomic aspects around the world. One of the most impacted activities were those related to mobility, mainly public transport, generally responsible for mass transport. This study analyzed the variation in the number of passengers on public transport (PT) in a medium-sized Brazilian city, evaluating the numbers before (15 months) and after (19 months) of the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. Four groups were considered: (I) absolute number of passengers, (II) during weekdays, (III) during weekdays during peak hours and (IV) only on weekends. In addition, Spearman correlation coefficients were calculated between the monthly number of passengers and the number of confirmed cases, deaths and vaccinated individuals. Analyzes showed statistical reductions in all groups, being more pronounced in the first months of the pandemic and on weekends, indicating a reduction in the use of PT for leisure activities. The results suggest that captive demand in the pandemic period was lower than in the pre-pandemic period. This demand, considered to be mostly made up of passengers who cannot choose another means of transport, even in extreme situations, was called Emergency Situation Demand. Finally, a positive and very strong correlation was observed between the number of vaccinated people and the number of passengers, indicating the return to the use of PT with the advancement of this protective measure.