(52e) On the Impact of COVID-19 Lockdowns on Air Quality and Transportation Patterns in Florida

The world has been facing an unprecedented pandemic caused by the novel COVID-19 virus. Due to this pandemic, countries have undergone nationwide lockdowns which has consequently led to the reduction in mobility and hence a significant decrease in vehicle usage. The lockdowns have had substantial economical, social, as well as environmental consequences. Studies have investigated the effects of the lockdown on either air quality or transportation patterns, with little attention towards examining the correlation between the two during the lockdown. To the best of our knowledge, this work is the first to investigate the direct relationship between changes in traffic and air quality during the lockdowns associated with the COVID-19 pandemic in major cities in the state of Florida. Five major cities are included in this study namely: Jacksonville, Tallahassee, Orlando, Tampa, and Miami. Same-day traffic volumes, acquired from Florida Department of Transportation, in 2019 are compared to those in 2020 to identify changes in traffic load for both light (passenger) and heavy (trucks) vehicles from 280 stations. Hourly data for five criteria pollutants including particulate matter (PM_2.5), nitrogen dioxide (NO₂), sulfur dioxide (SO₂), ozone (O₃), and carbon monoxide (CO) is provided by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) at each city from 2015 through 2020 at 30 sites. Three different periods are investigated in this study, namely: pre-lockdown, lockdown, and post-lockdown periods. The impact of the lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic on air pollution and mobility is characterized by comparing air quality and traffic data in 2020 to their historic values during the three aforementioned periods. A temporary decrease was observed in NO₂, O₃, and CO concentrations. On the other hand, PM_2.5 levels decreased during the lockdown and post-lockdown periods. A decrease in the number of heavy and light vehicles was observed during the lockdown, however heavy vehicles returned to their previous numbers during the post-lockdown period. Results herein provide evidence that reductions in traffic may have improved air quality, especially on levels of NO₂, PM_2.5, and O₃ in Florida. This work provide insight into the relative impact of vehicle classifications on air quality in the state of Florida and has implications on policy making and vehicular emissions regulations.