Transportation Research Interdisciplinary Perspectives (Dec 2022)

Beyond fear and abandonment: Public transport resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic

  • Louise Sträuli,
  • Tauri Tuvikene,
  • Tonio Weicker,
  • Wojciech Kębłowski,
  • Wladimir Sgibnev,
  • Peter Timko,
  • Marcus Finbom

Journal volume & issue
Vol. 16
p. 100711

Abstract

Read online

The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic challenged urban public transport systems to maintain accessibility and service for daily users while adapting to local health and safety regulations. Developing sustainable and resilient urban policies under such crisis conditions requires understanding the different feelings, experiences and expectations of passengers and how these relate to socio-economic inequalities. Drawing on a mixed-method study in Berlin (Germany), Brussels (Belgium), Stockholm (Sweden) and Tallinn (Estonia), we show how the pandemic outbreak has changed both who uses public transport and how users experience their journeys. Challenging the narratives that portray public transport as a place of fear, we find that remaining passengers assess the risk of contagion lower than those who avoided it completely. We argue that promoting resilient public transport requires policies that address the needs of passengers relying on public transport services. Therefore, we question the current policies under the sustainable mobility paradigm for not taking sufficient account of the feelings, experiences and emotions and particularly of transport-dependent users.

Keywords