Effects of Covid-19 pandemic on urban mobility in Bahía Blanca (Argentina) during the second semester of 2020

Abstract

This article analyzes the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on urban mobility in the downtown area of Bahía Blanca city, Argentina. The traffic flow and the segmentation of the vehicle fleet have been compiled by manual counting using the filmographic material generated by the security cameras of the local townhall, during the second half of 2020. The generated data allow to obtain an initial diagnosis of the changes in the type of mobility chosen by citizens, as well as the variations that occurred in vehicular flow. The analysis revealed an increase in traffic flow in the month of December, which is consistent with the gradual reopening of the lockdown. Besides, in the study of the extreme months of the period, i.e. July and December 2020, an increase in the use of motorcycles and bicycles was detected, thus reducing the appearance of the car. Therefore, it can be inferred that the citizens migrated to another type of cheaper mobility, and also more ecological and sustainable in the case of bicycles.