The Impact of COVID-19 on Travel Pattern – Evidence from Opal Card Data Analysis in New South Wales Australia

The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly changed people’s daily travel. This research aims to analyse the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on people’s travel pattern using public transport data and other COVID-19 relevant information (e.g., the daily number of new cases and travel restrictions). A case study in New South Wales, Australia is conducted by analysing Opal card data provided by Transport for NSW and other complementary data. The study area includes the Greater Sydney and the Illawarra regions, which consist of inter-city and intra-city trips based on multi-modal public transport systems like buses, trains, light rail and ferries. The analysis results of this study can help transport authorities and public transport operators better understand the change in people’s travel pattern after the COVID-19 outbreak and further evaluate, predict and adjust relevant public transport services and regulations to better meet the travel demand when a similar crisis occurs again in the future.