Impact of COVID-19 on the mobility of physically challenged people and older people

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has challenged public transport operations in an unprecedented way in developing cities. The street space, public transport (and as their extension paratransit) operations will need to cope up with the changing times by providing a safe and hygienic environment. It is crucial that the potential boom in the purchase and use of private automobiles in the post-COVID world remains short-lived and non-motorised transport, public or shared transport options are prioritised in the urban policies in developing cities. It is also crucial that public transport and paratransit retain and expand the patronage of these vulnerable groups while building infrastructure and supporting walking and cycling facilities. This research will identify the ‘key levers’ that have driven reforms and innovative transport solutions in cities in LICs. These ‘key levers’ could be in the form of organisational capacities, institutional resilience, specific reforms, financing mechanisms or planning methods and tools. The purpose of this project is to create a guidance document with case study briefs for LICs that will help them to learn from the ‘key levers’ of the best practices and create a sustainable transport strategy for the new normal phase. Based on this research project, the governing authorities at various levels would be able to implement ideas about reforming the existing walking, cycling, paratransit, or public transport system. Moreover, the study will help the governments issue advisories to the cities, transit authorities and implementing agencies to make them resilient to absorb and respond to the post-pandemic scenarios. This is an output of the High Volume Transport Applied Research Programme