Evolution of mobility during the COVID-19 crisis in the region of Madrid

Abstract

The World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 a pandemic on March 11, 2020. Three days later, the Spanish Government declared a state of alarm, which lasted until June 20. This state consisted of a two-month lockdown with mobility restrictions and a two-month phased easing of lockdown. This paper analyses the evolution of mobility patterns in the Region of Madrid through statistical information to study the impact of the COVID-19 crisis based on data from the Spanish National Statistics Institute (INE). The results obtained in this paper show that, during the lockdown, trips made in the Region of Madrid fell by 70% compared to the usual scenario. However, the variations in mobility were very different in each area of the territory. For example, trips to San Sebastián de los Reyes were reduced by more than 90%, while trips from San Fernando de Henares decreased by only 30%. Once the easing of lockdown phases began, there was an increase in trips in the Region of Madrid of more than 60% compared to trips made during the lockdown. This growth was also very irregular. For example, travels from Arganda del Rey increased by more than 260%, while trips to the same municipality only increased by 13%. The mobility study is complemented with the analysis of socioeconomic variables, land use, and transport network to clarify the evolution of the different areas in the Region of Madrid during the COVID-19 crisis