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CCER讨论稿：Long-Term Impacts of COVID-19 on Air Quality : Insights from Human Travel Behavior

发布日期：2022-05-07 11:12    来源：

E2022005                                                     2022-05-07

                 Susan Lu  Yang Yao  Shundong Zhang   Jiaqi Zhao

 

Abstract：

Existing literature has shown that the outbreak of COVID-19 led to a significant improvement of air quality. However, whether such improvement will persist after reopening remains ambiguous. In this paper, we explore daily air quality and road congestion data in Chinese cities in 2020 and find that compared to the pre-pandemic level, daytime nitrogen dioxide concentration declined by 34.2 percent during the lockdown period, but it increased by 6.5 percent four months after reopening. This finding is consistent with the pattern of change in road congestion—traffic congestion decreased by 20.2 percent during the lockdown period and increased by 5.3 percent afterward. We find strong evidence of a significant shift in the mode of human travel from public transit to private vehicles. This suggests that the pandemic has encouraged travelers to avoid public transit and, thus, has exacerbated road congestion and air pollution in the long run.

Keywords: COVID-19, Air Pollution, Public Transportation, Travel Behavior

JEL Codes: I18, Q53, L91, R41

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