The COVID-19 pandemic: a challenge or an opportunity for sustainable mobility? A qualitative interview study in Île-de-France

In an effort to counter the COVID-19 pandemic, France introduced safety measures that changed people’s capacity to move around. To what extent can these changes be opportunities for more sustainable mobility in the long term? While numerous studies have analyzed the impact of the pandemic on mobility using quantitative or short-term data, few have explored how individuals themselves experienced and reinterpreted these changes over time. In this article, we address this gap by providing a qualitative, longitudinal perspective on how residents of the Paris region adjusted their mobility practices during and after the pandemic. Between March and April 2023, we conducted qualitative interviews to discover what had occurred during and after the pandemic. Through 19 biographical interviews with people from the Parisian region, we get a retrospective view of the pandemic’s impact on mobility from March 2020 to April 2023. The results show that the pandemic had very little effect on the mode of transport, but did have a long-term effect on the frequency of work-related trips (particularly with the strong growth of work from home), and to a lesser extent on the frequency of travel for leisure and non-food purchases. Even though participants share the perceived risk of using public transport, this does not lead to a modal shift. Our findings highlight the importance of situating the effects of the pandemic within broader contextual, personal, and professional dynamics, offering new insights into how crisis-driven disruptions can shape long-term mobility patterns.