Impacts of COVID-19 on Bike-Share Usage: The case of Daejeon, Korea

After COVID-19 began spreading through fecal-oral routes, crowded cities introduced social distancing policies. Mobility patterns in urban also changed because of the pandemic and the policies to reduce the infection of it. This study investigates the impact of COVID-19 and related policies such as social-distancing by comparing bike-share demand in Daejeon, Korea. By using big data analytics and data visualization, the study measures differences in bike-sharing demand between 2018-19, before the pandemic, and 2020-21, during the pandemic. According to results, (1) bike-share users tend to travel long distances and cycle more than before the pandemic, (2) bike users choose cycling not for commuting but for transportation during the pandemic, and (3) the pandemic has broadened the spatial borders bike-usages. These results provide meaningful implications for urban planners and policymakers by identifying differences in the ways people use public bikes during the pandemic era.