A bifurcation of the peak: new patterns of traffic peaking during the COVID-19 era

Yang Gao; David Levinson

doi:10.1007/s11116-022-10329-1

A bifurcation of the peak: new patterns of traffic peaking during the COVID-19 era

Transportation (Amst). 2022 Sep 9:1-21. doi: 10.1007/s11116-022-10329-1. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Yang Gao¹, David Levinson¹

Affiliation

¹ School of Civil Engineering, The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales Australia.

Abstract

This paper analyzes the emergence of two well-defined peaks during the morning peak period in the traffic flow diurnal curve. It selects six California cities as research targets, and uses California employment and household travel survey data to explain how and why this phenomenon has risen during the pandemic. The final result explains that the double-humped phenomenon results from the change in the composition of commuters during the morning peak period after the outbreak.

Keywords: COVID-19; Commuting composition; Diurnal curve; Double-humped phenomenon; Morning commuting; Traffic flow.