Tracking Urban Mobility and Occupancy under Social Distancing Policy

AbstractThe effectiveness of social distancing as a disease-slowing measure is dependent on the degree of compliance that individuals demonstrate to such orders. In this ongoing research, we study outdoor pedestrian activity in New York City, specifically using (a) video streams gathered from public traffic cameras (b) dashcam footage from vehicles driving through the city, and (c) mobile phone geo-location data volunteered by local citizens. This project seeks to form a multi-scale map of urban mobility and space occupancy under social distancing policy. The data collected will enable researchers to infer the activities, contexts, origins, and destinations of the people in public spaces. This information can reveal where and, in turn, why stay-at-home orders are and are not being followed. As a work in progress, it is yet too early for detailed findings on this project. However, we report here on several unanticipated factors that have already influenced the course of the project, among them: the death of George Floyd and subsequent protests, data collection challenges, changes in the weather, and the unexpected nature of the progression of COVID-19.