The COVID-19 pandemic has affected people’s lives throughout the world. Governments have imposed restrictions on business and social activities to reduce the spread of the virus. In the US, the pandemic response has been largely left to state and local governments, resulting in a patchwork of policies that frequently changed. We examine travel behavior across income and race/ethnic groups in Los Angeles County over several stages of the pandemic. We use a difference-in-difference model based on mobile device data to compare mobility patterns before and during the various stages of the pandemic. We find a strong relationship between income/ethnicity and mobility. Residents of low-income and ethnic minority neighborhoods reduced travel less than residents of middle- and high-income neighborhoods during the shelter-in-place order, consistent with having to travel for work or other essential purposes. As public health rules were relaxed and COVID vaccines became available, residents of high-income and White neighborhoods increased travel more than other groups, suggesting more discretionary travel. Our trip purpose model results show that residents of low-income and ethnic minority neighborhoods reduced work and shopping travel less than those of White and high-income neighborhoods during the shelter-in-place order. Results are consistent with higher-income workers more likely being able to work at home than lower-income workers. In contrast, low-income/minorities apparently have more constraints associated with work or household care. The consequence is less capacity to avoid virus risk. Race and socioeconomic disparities are revealed in mobility patterns observed during the COVID-19 pandemic.

COVID-19 大流行影响了全世界人民的生活。各国政府已对商业和社会活动施加限制，以减少病毒的传播。在美国，大流行病的应对工作很大程度上留给了州和地方政府，导致政策错综复杂，经常发生变化。我们在大流行的几个阶段检查了洛杉矶县不同收入和种族/族裔群体的旅行行为。我们使用基于移动设备数据的差分模型来比较大流行之前和期间各个阶段的移动模式。我们发现收入/种族与流动性之间存在密切关系。在就地避难令期间，低收入和少数民族社区的居民减少出行的次数少于中高收入社区的居民，与必须出差工作或其他基本目的一致。随着公共卫生规则的放宽和 COVID 疫苗的问世，高收入和白人社区的居民比其他群体增加了更多的旅行，这表明更多的自由支配旅行。我们的旅行目的模型结果表明，在就地避难令期间，低收入和少数民族社区的居民减少工作和购物旅行的次数少于白人和高收入社区的居民。结果与高收入工人比低收入工人更有可能在家工作一致。相比之下，低收入/少数族裔显然在工作或家庭护理方面受到更多限制。结果是避免病毒风险的能力降低。