Understanding Change in Passenger Behavior due to the Impact of COVID-19 Using Automatic Ticket Gate IC Card Data

In a society undergoing “Work-style Reform” and where many workers can choose remote work, such as in Japan, it is important to understand the changes in commuting behavior of passengers and to forecast future railway demand based on the results in order to create appropriate railway policy. In addition, the number of remote workers has been rapidly increasing due to the impact COVID-19 pandemic. However, there are few studies which quantitatively analyze the changes using real passenger behavior data. This study focuses on the changes in commuting behavior of passengers related to remote work due to the impact of COVID-19. Using automatic ticket gate IC card data, the study identifies changes in the number of passengers, frequency of individual railway usage, origin-destination (OD) patterns, and departure time, by comparing data from before and after the COVID-19 pandemic.