The COVID-19 pandemic caused a significant shift towards teleworking, resulting in changes in travel patterns. The relationship between teleworking and individual travel behavior is crucial for transportation planning and policymaking. Thereby, this article investigates the relationships between teleworking, COVID-19, and mobility patterns in Brazil during two different periods of the COVID-19 pandemic. Given the exceptional nature of recent events, it is crucial to conduct studies related to teleworking during the pandemic crisis to contribute relevant information and evidence to the literature on this phenomenon. Such research has the potential to provide new insights and perspectives that enhance our understanding of the challenges and opportunities associated with teleworking. Two different approaches were used in the methodological procedure. The first approach used exploratory analysis to study public aggregated data related to the beginning of the pandemic, followed by a cluster analysis and a multinomial logit model. The second approach, relative to a longer relaxation period of sanitary/health measures, collected disaggregated self-reported data using an online survey, which were analyzed through non-parametric tests. The results show a strong relationship between the teleworking regime and the frequency of trips, especially for work purposes. It also highlights the influence of economic development and the region of Brazil in the kind of work regime. The continuation of studies, such as this one, in current periods is important for analyzing possible impacts, such as the reduction in congestion, vehicle emissions, and to enable the use of teleworking as a demand management policy.

This research analyzed the factors influencing lateral distance and speed of motorized vehicles overtaking cyclists. The measurement apparatus consisted of an instrumented bicycle equipped with an ultrasonic sensor, a speed radar, GPS devices and a GoPro camera. The experiment was carried out along a predetermined route in the urban area of Londrina, in the state of Paraná, Brazil. A total of 36 tours were performed, wherein 2032 overtaking maneuvers were identified. Several factors were regressed on two dependent variables, namely the overtaking speed and the lateral distance, within a path analysis modeling framework to assess their contributions to the cyclist safety. The presence of painted bike lanes was shown to be the most important aspect, as lateral clearance increased by an average 31 cm compared with that for streets without this intervention. It should be noted though that this effect is higher for lanes with larger widths, with practically no influence on narrower lanes. Larger lateral distances were found in wider streets, whereas heavier vehicles and higher speed limits were associated with faster overtaking maneuvers. The most critical factor was related to cycling in commercial city zones where the combined effects posed a greater risk to cycling (i.e., higher overtaking speeds with shorter lateral distances). These findings shed light on relevant policies to promote cyclist safety and cycling attractiveness, such as expanding cycling infrastructure, decreasing street speed limits and informing citizens about the safest cycling routes in their urban environment.

This research investigates the potential of inducing willingness to travel less by car with a Car-Free Day campaign and reveals under which circumstances it could be more effective. An online survey was conducted after the event, wherein questions about attitudes toward the campaign, participation and intention of traveling less by car, as well as sociodemographic attributes and travel features were asked. First, the impacts of situational constraints (travel distance, trip chaining and perceived insecurity) on participation were investigated. Secondly, it was examined whether engaging with the campaign increases the intention of traveling less by car after controlling for sociodemographic attributes, attitudes toward the campaign and situational constraints. Logistic regression models have shown that increased travel distance and trip chaining curb participation in the campaign and that the odds of being positively influenced by the campaign is almost four times higher for individuals who engaged with the campaign compared with those who did not participate. This study provides important empirical evidence of a Car-Free Day campaign’s potential of fostering a more sustainable travel behavior, which so far has not been systematically investigated. Finally, relevant policy implications and guidelines on the planning and conduction of a Car-Free Day event that could enhance the likelihood of its success were discussed.