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Effect of COVID-19 response policies on walking behavior in US cities.

Published version
Peer-reviewed

Type

Article

Change log

Authors

Hunter, Ruth F 
Garcia, Leandro 
de Sa, Thiago Herick 
Zapata-Diomedi, Belen 
Millett, Christopher 

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic is causing mass disruption to our daily lives. We integrate mobility data from mobile devices and area-level data to study the walking patterns of 1.62 million anonymous users in 10 metropolitan areas in the United States. The data covers the period from mid-February 2020 (pre-lockdown) to late June 2020 (easing of lockdown restrictions). We detect when users were walking, distance walked and time of the walk, and classify each walk as recreational or utilitarian. Our results reveal dramatic declines in walking, particularly utilitarian walking, while recreational walking has recovered and even surpassed pre-pandemic levels. Our findings also demonstrate important social patterns, widening existing inequalities in walking behavior. COVID-19 response measures have a larger impact on walking behavior for those from low-income areas and high use of public transportation. Provision of equal opportunities to support walking is key to opening up our society and economy.

Description

Keywords

Accelerometry, COVID-19, Cell Phone, Cities, Communicable Disease Control, Health Policy, Humans, Obesity, Prevalence, Recreation, Socioeconomic Factors, Transportation, United States, Walking, Weather

Journal Title

Nat Commun

Conference Name

Journal ISSN

2041-1723
2041-1723

Volume Title

12

Publisher

Springer Science and Business Media LLC