Tourists′ local buses ridership and pandemic resilience: a smart card data analysis in Southern Catalonia

The COVID-19 pandemic′s harmful effects have varied across economic sectors and been particularly adverse for the transport and tourism sectors. This article analyses the pandemic′s impact on tourists′ use of public transport since 2020, including its patterns of change and general decline, using data from more than 40000 smart card holders considered to be summertime users during the peak tourist season in Camp de Tarragona (Catalonia, Spain). 3 model-based clustering analyses of pre-pandemic data from 2019 were performed and used to classify data generated since the pandemic began in 2020. The 1st model included variables of each smart card′s volume of activity, the 2nd model analysed the concentration or spatial dispersion of validated uses of each card, and the 3rd model examined the temporal dimension of the use of smart cards depending on the defined objective. Among the major findings, the number of journeys plunged by 92% in summer 2020 – that is, by far more than throughout the year (64%), which suggests a higher loss of travellers linked with tourism activities (e.g., tourists, 2nd-residence owners, and workers in the tourism sector). Regarding the spatial dimension, patterns with minor reductions related to trips taken within cities (45%) or between major cities (78%). By contrast, travellers with sprawled patterns fell the use by 93%. Last, profiles obtained from variables of a temporary nature presented similar percentages of losses; the most significant losses were for use distributed throughout the day (91.81%) and throughout the night (90.12%). This article provides valuable insights into the pandemic′s varied effects on the use of public transport during peak season at a tourist destination, insights that could inform policies and actions to ensure a more robust response to future crises.