KOCHI:
“There will be a drastic reduction in travel demand triggered by changes like reduced job opportunities and work from home practices during the COVID times.”, cites the “Survey on the effects of COVID 19 on transportation: What the experts say” conducted by Centre for Public Policy Research, Kochi. Survey reveals that safety concerns will guide the choice of mode and that there would be an increased preference for private vehicles, non-motorised transport (NMT) and shared mobility services with reduced dependency on public transport.
The survey was conducted by CPPR from June to July 2020, among experts from the transportation sector to understand their perception of the effects of the pandemic on the sector in India. A total of 15 experts consisting of academicians, practitioners, policy makers and researchers, from different parts of the country, who were closely working with the transportation sector were interviewed.
Key Challenges for Transportation Sector
There will be a huge reduction in travel demand triggered by changes like reduced job opportunities and work from home practices. Experts suggest low patronage for public transport in future due to fear of safety and lack of practices/ infrastructure to maintain social distancing. This might even induce a reduction in the number of services available and therefore an increase in fares.
The choice of mode will be greatly influenced by safety concerns, and the experts opine that there would be an increased preference for private vehicles, non-motorised transport (NMT) and shared mobility services with reduced dependency on public transport. Experts unanimously predict a change in the share of major modes of transport with two-wheelers increasing its share significantly while that of the Metro services reducing sharply. Non-motorized transport like Cycling and Walking will also be increasingly preferred.
Policy changes and relief measures required
The government should prioritize investments to improve the infrastructure for Non-motorized transport and electric vehicles. Increased public spending (through Urban Transport Fund) for transport infrastructure development and improving the efficiency of public transport will boost the sector according to the experts.
70% of the experts do not consider an increase in fare as a justifiable strategy to alleviate the financial constraints faced by public transport operators as it is not equitable.
Experts recommend government support to help private operators by ensuring credit availability through cheap loans and moratoriums. Tax exemptions on fuel, vehicles, etc. and exemptions on toll and parking charges could be helpful for the sector to stay afloat, according to the experts.
Technological advancements on ticketing and scheduling can improve safety and help build public confidence in the sector.
CPPR had recently released another report titled “COVID-19 Impact survey report” based on inputs from 500 respondents across India from 16th to 30th of June during the period when Unlock Phase 1 was underway (Read report here). The Survey looked into travel patterns in the pre-lockdown and during the lockdown phase and assessed the change in people’s perception of public transport.. Both the citizen impact survey report and expert survey report concluded that Public Transport shall face huge setbacks in terms of the number of users as many of them would opt for private modes of travel post lockdown.
