The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted various aspects of modern life in society. Health organizations strongly urged residents of major cities to reduce their use of public transportation to minimize social contacts, thereby reducing the risk of infection and virus spread. Studies indicate a global increase in the use of private cars.
In this thesis, I aim to investigate how the proximity of public transportation and socio-economic segregation influenced changes in the car market in the Stockholm region after the COVID-19 outbreak. I calculated the public transportation index using ArcGIS and conducted a multivariable analysis of the number of cars, PTI (Public Transportation Index), and average income in the municipalities of the Stockholm region. The results showed that municipalities with low income levels exhibit a strong correlation between PTI and the cars acquired by residents, with high PTI leading to a low number of acquired cars, both before and after the COVID-19 outbreak. Municipalities with high average resident incomes showed no significant correlation between PTI and the number of cars before COVID-19. A new trend emerged after the COVID-19 outbreak –municipalities with high incomes and a high public transportation index started acquiring more personal cars one year after the COVID-19 outbreak.