The prevention and control of COVID-19 in megacities is under large pressure because of tens of millions and high-density populations. The majority of epidemic prevention and control policies implemented focused on travel restrictions, which severely affected urban mobility during the epidemic. Considering the impacts of epidemic and associated control policies, this study analyzes the relationship between COVID-19, travel of residents, Point of Interest (POI), and social activities from the perspective of taxi travel. First, changes in the characteristics of taxi trips at different periods were analyzed. Next, the relationship between POIs and taxi travels was established by the Geographic Information System (GIS) method, and the spatial lag model (SLM) was introduced to explore the changes in taxi travel driving force. Then, a social activities recovery level evaluation model was proposed based on the taxi travel datasets to evaluate the recovery of social activities. The results demonstrated that the number of taxi trips dropped sharply, and the travel speed, travel time, and spatial distribution of taxi trips had been significantly influenced during the epidemic period. The spatial correlation between taxi trips was gradually weakened after the outbreak of the epidemic, and the consumption travel demand of people significantly decreased while the travel demand for community life increased dramatically. The evaluation score of social activity is increased from 8.12 to 74.43 during the post-epidemic period, which may take 3–6 months to be fully recovered as a normal period. Results and models proposed in this study may provide references for the optimization of epidemic control policies and recovery of public transport in megacities during the post-epidemic period.

The tremendous impact of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) on societal, political, and economic rhythms has given rise to a significant overall shift from pre- to post-pandemic policies. Restrictions, stay-at-home regulations, and lockdowns have directly influenced day-to-day urban transportation flow. The rise of door-to-door services and the demand for visiting medical facilities, grocery stores, and restaurants has had a significant impact on urban transportation modal demand, further impacting zonal parking demand distribution. This study reviews the overall impacts of the pandemic on urban transportation with respect to a variety of policy changes in different cities. The parking demand shift was investigated by exploring the during- and post-COVID-19 parking policies of distinct metropolises. The detailed data related to Melbourne city parking, generated by the Internet of things (IoT), such as sensors and devices, are examined. Empirical data from 2019 (16 March to 26 May) and 2020 (16 March to 26 May) are explored in-depth using explanatory data analysis to demonstrate the demand and average parking duration shifts from district to district. The results show that the experimental zones of Docklands, Queensbery, Southbanks, Titles, and Princess Theatre areas have experienced a decrease in percentage change of vehicle presence of 29.2%, 36.3%, 37.7%, 23.7% and 40.9%, respectively. Furthermore, on-street level analysis of Princess Theatre zone, Lonsdale Street, Exhibition Street, Spring Street, and Little Bourke Street parking bays indicated a decrease in percentage change of vehicle presence of 38.7%, 56.4%, 12.6%, and 35.1%, respectively. In conclusion, future potential policymaking frameworks are discussed that could provide further guidance in stipulating epidemic prevention and control policies, particularly in relation to parking regulations during the pandemic.

The mechanism behind the influence of a foreign language on the framing effect is still controversial, in terms of whether this influence is due to emotional resonance evoked by language or to the cognitive differences stemming from the language-switching process. We resolved this ambiguity by conducting two experiments with Chinese students. In Study 1 we verified the influence of language (English, Chinese, pinyin) on the framing effect in the decision-making process. In Study 2 we controlled for cognitive processing activities using language translation instructions (switching conditions) to examine the framing effect change in the decision-making process caused by differences in language statements. Our results show that emotional resonance was a crucial factor behind this phenomenon, and that cognitive factors were relevant when emotional resonance variables were controlled for.