Box 2.9: Making public transport COVID-19 safe

Despite the perceived risks of infection, public transport was an essential infrastructure that had to be maintained and improved during the pandemic as a lifeline for residents and a bedrock of economic stability Firstly, private road infrastructure delivers limited benefits in contexts where the overwhelming majority of residents do not own their own vehicle. More than that, however, it frequently undermines other forms of transit as pavements and road space is given over increasingly to cars at the expense of pedestrians and cyclists. Given that walking and cycling are often the preferred options for low-income residents, these impacts can be highly exclusionary, increasing their exposure to toxic traffic fumes and raising the risk of death or serious injury as a result of road accidents. Finally, given that the rollout of tollways and other infrastructure often promotes inefficient land use and can leave previously cohesive areas fragmented in their wake, poorer communities may find themselves cut off from the rest of the city or relocated to the periphery, far from their work.

Box 2.9: Making public transport COVID-19 safe

Since the beginning of the crisis, governments and transport agencies have emphasized the essential role of public transport to guarantee access and livelihoods for urban dwellers in the midst of the pandemic. Given widespread fears about travelling in shared spaces, however, not to mention the potential risks of infection without adequate measures in place, public transport authorities and operators have responded with a range of measures including:

• Scaling and reinforcing cleaning and disinfection procedures

• Supplying protective equipment to staff and to passengers

• Ensuring staff and passengers comply with health regulations

• Increasing the level of natural ventilation and air renewal

• Accelerating the digitalization and the deployment of IT tools to better monitor operations

• Anticipating the number of travellers and occupancy in vehicles to provide real time information to avoid crowds

• Arranging contactless payment facilities

• Providing staff and customers with regular transparent communications Affordable, inclusive public transportation, alongside adequate provision of space and infrastructure for walking and cycling, are essential to ensuring “access to safe, affordable, accessible and sustainable transport systems for all”, in line with Sustainable Goal 11.2. Its importance has only increased since the outbreak of COVID-19 and the changes introduced in response. Faced with growing infection rates, most governments imposed mobility restrictions and community containment measures, such as school closures and home working requirements, resulting in unprecedented drops in ridership. Upper middle- and high-income countries witnessed significant drops in transit ridership as well. Cities such as Stockholm saw public transport use decline by 60 per cent in the weeks following lockdown,67 trends mirrored in Washington DC, where Metrorail and bus ridership fell by 90 per cent and 75 per cent respectively by the end of March 2020.68 These declines may not only reflect a fall in demand, but also a reduced trust in the safety of public transport among users, threatening the continued effectiveness of mobility systems that many lower income groups rely on.

Many cities recognized that, despite the perceived risks of infection, public transport was an essential infrastructure that had to be maintained and improved during the pandemic as a lifeline for residents and a bedrock of economic stability. The benefits were not only clear in terms of public health — frontline health care workers rely on public transport to reach their places of employment, while the poor may have no other means of reaching medical facilities — but also in protecting livelihoods. Informal settlement dwellers in particular, often living at lengthy distances from city centres, would struggle to access the labour market and earn a living without access to public transport. In some countries and regions, such as Europe, governments and transport authorities have implemented a wide range of protocols to ensure safety and confidence for users (Box 2.9). As discussed in Chapter 1, the evidence suggests that the incidence of infections