Evaluating the Variations in Discretionary Activity Episodes Before and During Lockdown Among Urban Indian University Students

The advent of the COVID-19 pandemic has significantly impacted the travel patterns of university students in urban India, leading to a decline in their use of public transportation, active mobility, and lifestyle that may have long-term impacts on future mobility patterns. The present study, therefore, aims to investigate the similarities and differences in physically passive (PP), and physically active (PA) behaviors before (BL) and during the lockdown (DL) period, enabling the identification of effective strategies to mitigate undesirable lifestyle changes experienced by the university population. A multivariate ordered probit (MOP) model was estimated to examine the objectives. The data used for modeling was collected through an online survey conducted in pan-India from May to July 2020. A total of 631 responses were collected, of which 203 survey forms were deemed eligible. Gathering responses from the same cohort during the BL and DL period is a unique feature of this study. Activity episodes consisted of dependent variables, while socio-demographics, mode use behavior, and psychometric indicators were the explanatory variables. The psychometric indicators consisted of measurement items related to ‘anxiety (AL)’, ‘physical well-being (PW)’ and ‘leisure (LE)’ and a principal component analysis (PCA) was used to identify these latent factors. The results indicate that PP episodes for BL and DL periods were complementary, while PA episodes were substitutive. Age, education, and access to private modes had an adverse effect on an active lifestyle (PA). However, students with high scores on PW constructs are more inclined to carry out PA episodes. The study concludes with relevant policy discussions based on model outcomes.