A Basic Study on Frequency of Public Transportation Use and Sense of Safety during a Pandemic

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to analyze and discuss residents' attitudes at multiple time points regarding the relationship between their sense of security in using public transportation and their use of such facilities during an infectious disease epidemic in order to obtain a basic knowledge of appropriate public transportation use. An analysis of covariance was conducted among residents of Aichi Prefecture (n=1,242, n=1,685) to examine the influence of the sense of security about the facility on the frequency of public transportation use at two-time points (July 2020 and October 2021) during the Covid-19 epidemic, and the influence of vaccination on this sense of security. The following findings were obtained. (1) The provision of a sense of security impacted the frequency of public transportation use, and the impact of the provision of a sense of security on bus use was significant at the time of the Covid-19 epidemic. (2) Vaccination did not affect the frequency of public transportation use or the provision of a sense of security.