Nowadays being alone, stay at home, walk alone and ride alone are the best options to protect the transmission of Coronavirus, COVID-19. Even if COVID-19 is a typical situation, there are other situations that can create dangers for mass transit users.
So, what kinds of scenarios, policies, and strategies can accommodate such disasters and how can we regain the trust of Public transport systems in the future?
Any innovative idea is appreciated.
Cheap travel will become a thing of the past in post-COVID-19 era.
Hand sanitizers, and social distancing will be the key in all transport e.g, trains, buses, planes, boata, and ships.
It would come at a price - public transport and cheap travel will become a thing of the past in the post-COVID-19 era.
Daily disinfection of all vehicles, fixed hand sanitizers, free face mask for all users and use of half capacity of the vehicles (i.e. to keep social distance) may be effective. On the other hand, use of mobile phone apps for COVİD-19 may be helpful. Now, in Turkey we have an app that shows the riscy area and the people 's condition who use the same app using bluetooth and gps sensors.
Such a crisis hits public transport and urban areas at their heart! the basic idea of a mass transit system is to move masses efficiently. Cities depend on it in order to get employees, shoppers and visitors into densly built city centers. If mass transit cannot transport masses any longer (because of restrictions and physical distancing) the economies and therefore the cities themselves will suffer.
Simply adding more capacity does not work because during rush-hours there are usually no idle vehicles available and you have additional limitations on track capacity etc.
One approach is to flatten the curve in mobility demand overall by increasing home-office, rescheduling starting times in schools etc. Thus you can distribute the demand for evenly over time.
Interesting responses! I hope, I will summarize your ideas and repost it.
Thank you Martin Schmidt , Nasir Mustafa , Yetis Sazi Murat , Muhammad Yousuf , Sunil Kumar .
Martin Schmidt makes a good point. Reduced load by distribution of time of day and shift in work population away from city centers needs to be developed. On the positive side of this is that demand of services will increase in the more suburban and rural areas outside of the major population centers. Keeping it local should become a trend that can spur a shift in work location for both the service industry and small scale business owners. Manufacturing centers pose another difficulty not easily addressed.
Stay well everyone.
Well, i think there is a need of a system that continuous its performance event without involvement of human. this will help to continue all activities.
policies will covert from mass transport towards finding more solutions for using own cars or using sustainability green transport . about studying factors, i can share with you in a research project
The public transport systems should provide free hand gloves and masks. They should also ensure that in the public transport, spaces and seats are marked to avoid overcrowding.
All the mentioned issues such as gloves and masks are a consequence measures to the current pandemic. We should get to the root of the problem by applying other essential measures such as review the number of passengers allowed to be onboard and reconfigure the inside layout of cabins to ensure social distancing and so.
Though different scenarios, strategies and policies have been put in place to curb the spread of the pandemic, Enforcing the strategies and policies is the biggest challenge. Adequate spacing with physical barriers and hygiene enforcement are vital
UITP, the International Association of Public Transport, has just released this very helpful factsheet summarizing best practices for public transport operators to deal with Covid 19 and similar infectious diseases. The guidelines reflect practical experiences and are rooted in reality. https://www.uitp.org/sites/default/files/cck-focus-papers-files/Corona%20Virus_EN.pdf
I believe it is impossible to keep any thing as it is until Coronavirus is vanished. However the main concern should not be how to gain public demand, it should be how to make public transportation means safe from being points of virus spread. All suggestions should be investigated first and examine the infection possibilities with the number of on board users. And operators take the responsibility to limit the ridership of each vehicle.
Thank you very much. I am happy with all your suggestions. I hope, I will summarize your ideas and repost it.
I think the only way is by applying the safety instructions by wearing masks all the time and insure social distancing of at least 6 feet. This will impact and will have major effect on public transit to reduce their capacities to meet these requirements
In my opinion, the public transport can recover step by step simultaneously with the pandemic controlling process. Nevertheless, the way that the transit system come back should be evaluated and shift from the past in several ways. Firstly, the countermeasures against the risk of the virus infecting in vehicles and the transport hubs. These acts play as a hard-protections (keep distancing, reducing the capacity, rescheduling the operation, and using the anti-virus material, etc.). In the long term, the city plan transforming from the compact shape to the flat shape should be considered (as Kyle Tornow concerned above). The de-centralizing may help to balance the population density in areas and to reduce the high rate of close contact. Last but not least, developing autonomous vehicles and make them be a part of the public transport seems to be a promising method supplementing for this problem.
As many answers rightly pointed out, social distancing and the use of masks must be mandated. Besides, other safety measures could also be implemented that can increase the willingness of riders to use public transport during the pandemic.
Evidence suggests that inhaling airborne droplets is one of the possible mechanisms for COVID-19 transmission. Therefore, in indoor microenvironments, like public transit cabins, sufficient and effective ventilation must be provided. The ventilation systems may be coupled with particle filtration and air disinfection to further enhance safety. The recirculation of air must be avoided. This article (Article How can airborne transmission of COVID-19 indoors be minimised?
) highlights the idea.Also, a recent study ( Article An Overview on the Role of Relative Humidity in Airborne Tra...
) reported that an RH of 40-60% is optimal for human health in indoor settings. Thus RH must be maintained in the cabin and waiting areas.These are some of the modifications suggested with respect to the public transit microenvironment settings that could ensure improved passenger safety.
In kenya only 5% of people own cars, so the demand of public transport will always be there once the lock downs are removed.