Covid-19 incidents in vehicular traffic in the city of Portoviejo – Ecuador: Intersection between Manabí and America avenues

Abstract

COVID-19 has generated modifications in many sectors worldwide; among these, vehicular traffic. The objective of this work was to compare the distribution of current vehicular traffic, its frequency, and reasons for use against results obtained in investigations carried out in 2019 at the intersection of América and Manabí avenues in the city of Portoviejo - Ecuador, as an input for determine the incidence caused by the pandemic in the vehicular behavior of the city. The methodology considered the application of vehicle counts carried out on several days of the week that were not altered by extraordinary events that could skew the results of the research, together with the application of virtual surveys directed at 4,000 drivers and their statistical interpretation through the Pearson's correlation coefficient (r). The results made it possible to identify positive and negative  aspects in vehicular mobility, such as the 8% decrease in the use of light vehicles and the 28% increase in the circulation of bicycles. Little perceptible modifications were registered from a global analysis (r = 0.99) and, by means of an independent analysis for each type of transport, the consequences in their behavior were considered medium-low, with r values between 0.79 and 0.99.