Government: "Even with strengthened social distancing, traffic volume will not decrease further"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Eunmo Koo] The government’s efforts to strengthen social distancing measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 no longer appear to have an effect on reducing traffic volume.

The Korea Transport Institute announced on the 31st the results of an analysis of traffic volume using big data on floating populations from Statistics Korea and SK Telecom. The number of trips counted as traffic volume was based on Seoul residents visiting other districts or counties and staying for more than 30 minutes.

The institute analyzed the degree of traffic volume reduction according to adjustments in social distancing levels during the 3rd COVID-19 wave (October 2020?May 2021), the 4th wave (June 2021?November 2021), and the 5th wave (December 2021?January 2022).

During the 3rd wave, as social distancing levels were raised, weekly traffic volume decreased by up to 280,000 people. The impact lasted for 16 weeks until traffic volume recovered to pre-distancing levels. During the 4th wave, the increase in distancing levels led to a maximum weekly decrease of about 220,000 in traffic volume, with effects lasting approximately 6 weeks. However, during the 5th wave, there was no significant change in traffic volume despite adjustments in distancing levels.

The institute also analyzed the impact of the increase in confirmed cases on traffic volume. During the 3rd wave, as confirmed cases rose, weekly traffic volume decreased by up to about 110,000 people, with effects lasting around 20 weeks. In the 4th wave, traffic volume decreased by up to 60,000 people with rising confirmed cases, and the impact lasted for 6 weeks. During the 5th wave, no clear trend of traffic volume reduction was observed despite the increase in confirmed cases.

As the COVID-19 situation prolonged, the effect of strengthening social distancing levels on reducing the public’s traffic volume appears to have gradually diminished. The institute explained that the effect of traffic volume reduction due to adjustments in distancing levels has almost disappeared. However, although the effect on reducing traffic volume is small, since it still suppresses increases in traffic volume, it advised that future quarantine policies should be decided based on data-driven monitoring.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.