COVID-19 and the Transportation System Response : Lessons for the Post-Pandemic World

Abstract: The COVID-19 coronavirus disease has unexpectedly changed the way we travel in our cities. With urban transportation remaining an essential service, governments, agencies and organizations are being challenged to develop and implement changes that accommodate for the changing levels of travel demand, the shifts in mode of travel, and the promotion of physical/social distancing to limit the spread of the virus. Travel behaviours of the public have also changed during this time, favouring more physically distant options such as cycling, ridesharing and other new mobility solutions, and the automobile where available, rather than public transportation options. What can cities learn from the different response measures during this crisis, and how does the current shift in urban transportation needs help inform future urban transportation planning, promoting more space and potentially shifting to more sustainable and active modes of transportation? Using case studies to outline the various levels of response measures to the transportation system being implemented in select cities in North America, Europe, and Asia, this highlights the varied overall approaches and generates a toolbox of interventions for the urban transportation sector. Various cities have implemented measures such as mandatory face coverings and temperature checks on public transport, promoting and providing easier access to bike share and other new mobility programs, adjusting and reallocating space on public roadways to cyclists and pedestrians in an effort to promote physical distancing, among many others. While intended as initial emergency responses, measures from such a toolbox have opportunities to become further developed to long-term programs that can be aimed at shifting attitudes towards urban transportation, encouraging alternate or more active ways of movement, and reallocating space within the public realm for people.