An Analysis of the Evolution of Transportation Use at UBC : Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic
Creators: name: Li, Michelle
name: Mawji, Tahir
name: Park, Chris
name: Toi, Megan
name: Yang, Cyrus
Publisher: name: The University of British Columbia
Year: 2022

description: The decrease in physical activity amongst Canadians has resulted in an increasing number of Canadians being unable to meet physical activity guidelines and an increase in obesity-related comorbidities (Tremblay et al., 2011). According to Youngkin et al. (2021), the increase in gasoline vehicles for single-occupancy transportation on a daily, or near-daily basis has significantly contributed to the decrease in physical activity in urbanized settings. Therefore, this shows that there is an increased need to emphasize the importance of active transportation (AT) amongst the general population. AT can be defined as “any self-propelled human-powered mode of transportation” (Zwald et al. 2018). Currently, more research is required on the transportation patterns of university students and how it has been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, the purpose of our study was to examine the transportation patterns of students at the University of British Columbia (UBC) with respect to before, during, and after the COVID-19 pandemic. In turn, we aimed to provide recommendations for promoting the use of AT amongst UBC students based on our data. We collected students’ transportation data through an online survey via Qualtrics. Quantitative data was collected by tallying up the number of students that used certain modes of transportation. Moreover, qualitative data was collected by having students complete an open-ended question about how the COVID-19 pandemic had changed their transportation patterns as well as their perceptions of different barriers to AT use. Results show that there was an increase in the number of students that drove/carpooled to class on campus during the 2021/2022 Winter Session compared to the 2019/2020 Winter Session. Furthermore, it was also surmised that there was a discernible drop in AT use in the 2020/2021 Winter Session. “Geography” (weather and climate) was the most commonly cited barrier by students, for all three Winter Sessions. Moreover, time and distance were also factors that were consistently cited by students as being major barriers to engaging in AT. Lastly, convenience was also a common theme as participants were reluctant to cycle to campus because they did not want to bring a change of clothes and worried about bike storage. Recommendations were made to address these barriers. In the short-term, recommendations included encouraging students to adopt a hybrid approach to their UBC commute by combining both passive transportation (PT) and AT, incentivizing the use of AT with the use of prize draws, implementing a buddy program where students could support each other in the use of AT, and spreading awareness of current AT resources such as UBC Bike Kitchen and HOPR bike rental services. In the long-term, recommendations included, increasing the capacity for students to bring bicycles onto transit vehicles with additional bike racks, increasing sanitation on transit vehicles, creating a semester-long bike rental program for UBC students, and placing bike racks near ‘Emergency Blue Phones’ or areas under surveillance on campus. Disclaimer: “UBC SEEDS provides students with the opportunity to share the findings of their studies, as well as their opinions, conclusions and recommendations with the UBC community. The reader should bear in mind that this is a student project/report and is not an official document of UBC. Furthermore readers should bear in mind that these reports may not reflect the current status of activities at UBC. We urge you to contact the research persons mentioned in a report or the SEEDS Coordinator about the current status of the subject matter of a project/report.”