Covid-19 and the transportation fundamentals

Christopher Job Mukuye, Uganda

“Christopher is a 32-year old Ugandan Traffic and Transportation Engineer with a Master’s degree in Transportation Engineering from Kyoto University. He is currently working with Centre for Infrastructure Consulting (CIC) Limited, an all field Engineering Consultancy firm in Uganda. He is very enthusiastic about transportation systems and is currently engaged on the Development of Uganda’s first Non-Motorised Transport Manual as well as playing a backstopping role in the development of Uganda’s Expressway Master Plan”

Economies thrive on two types of activity, labour (human) and capital. Whilst both are important, labour relies on infrastructure such as transportation systems. This renders any transportation system very crucial to any economy and an enabler of economic activity.

As part of the preventive measures instituted to combat the fast spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, social distancing and avoidance of mass crowding have been strongly encouraged if not mandated. This, of course includes avoidance or limited use of mass transit public transportation systems (planes, trains, buses, minibus taxis, cruise ships/ferries etc.) resulting in a global drop in public transit usage. But the question is, what does this mean in the context of sustainable transportation systems?

It is imperative to note that just like any other balanced system, any decrease in the share of a given transportation mode, would be countered by incremental changes in another mode or modes of transport. Unexpected events such as Covid-19, the 2011 great east Japan earthquake, tsunamis etc all impact transportation systems from all perspectives i.e. planning, mode choice, travel behaviour etc.

The major determinants of the operation and usage of post shock transportation systems and resultant travel patterns are part of the lessons to be learnt and should help to form part of the actions taken by governments in an attempt to make transportation systems more resilient.

The 1973 oil shocks pushed the US to adapt new national speed limits of 55 mph and a shift was realised from the use of less fuel-efficient vehicles to the use of more fuel-efficient ones and cleaner fuels i . The Netherlands too, revised their speed limits to 65mph and introduced car-free Sundays among other measures. Whilst most countries end up going back to their original status quo, the Netherlands used that opportunity to redesign its road policies to focus on people instead of cars and prioritise the cheapest, quickest and easiest way to get around cities, mostly by bicycles linked to local and regional transit ii . Since then, they have been arguably the greenest and healthiest commuters on the planet.

Current situation & coping mechanisms The Covid-19 pandemic has seen governments respond with travel restrictions, various bans, and imposed domestic measures to minimise the spread of the virus. Uganda, for example, has forced residents to stay home, imposed dusk-to-dawn curfews and restricted vehicle movements. Day to day lives have therefore been put on pause, i.e. work, education, shopping, sports events, restaurants, art and culture, entertainment, markets, celebrations, appointments and other errands are now restricted.

Residents will eventually go back to the basics and suggest to their city leaders they have too narrow sidewalks to maintain the minimum social distance iii . World cities are therefore turning their streets over to pedestrians and cyclists iv . In addition to the existing 550Km of permanent bicycle lanes, the Colombian capital of Bogota opened more 76Km of bicycle lanes to reduce crowding on public transport v . The Guardian reports London’s walking and cycling commissioner, Will Norman, having conversations with cities around the world and saying, “we are looking at the busiest parts of our road networks to see where we can give people more walking space” vi . Measures have also been taken in New Zealand to create temporary pavements and cycling lanes to reflect changes in road usage patterns during the pandemic. Transports metropolitans de Barcelona also reminds the public that public transport must be used only for essential journeys, despite the lifts on restrictions.

In Uganda’s capital, Kampala, the unprecedented closure of public transport caused a difficult predicament as all the supply evaporated overnight, leaving leeway for only the critical and essential services. Ride-hailing services like Uber, Taxify saw a short-lived spike in demand as people shifted out of public transit, which was shortly before the use of private vehicles was halted on March 30 th 2020. Ugandans were then left with only one option; walking and cycling. This resulted in a significant rise in the number of people who walk and cycle on the streets of Kampala and other urban centres finding their way around.

Lessons to learn

It could be argued that the pandemic has potentially brought about the perfect opportunity we’ve been waiting for. Timothy Papandreou, founder of emerging transport, refers to this as the greatest, if not, most important “what if” transport scenario experiments that offers a once in a lifetime opportunity to re-imagine our transportation system iii . Operating a fragmented, inequitable and uncoordinated urban transportation system makes it very vulnerable to several kinds of shocks.

This is a great opportunity for urban authorities to plan better so as be able to manage temporary shocks and sustain prolonged interruptions. This comes with observing critically from the lens of the end user, figure out what works and what doesn’t and fix the necessary repairs Whilst most communities around the world are falling back on walking and cycling as their main form of transport (Including Uganda), this essentially communicates that walking and cycling (i.e. non-motorised transport) are the fundamentals of basic transportation. These, it could therefore be argued, should ideally be given first priority when it comes to transport infrastructure developments going forward since they, in most cases have been the fallback position of many transportation systems.