How Will the “COVID Years” Change 我们如何旅行?

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected every part of our lives, 包括我们如何从一个地方到另一个地方, 无论是局部的还是全局的. 许多健康问题, 经济, and social policy challenges we face in 2020, 前所未有的年, 无疑会延续多年吗.

Looking at transportation data and studying how, 当, 在哪里, and why we are traveling as we move into the future will inform solutions to developing transportation policies to meet the demands of the “new normal.” “There may be long-lasting changes in travel patterns because of COVID-19,詹姆斯·詹尼斯说, Ph.D., Associate Director and 人力因素研究经理 in 趣赢平台’s 交通运输中心, 技术 & 安全研究.

“The public will want less person-to-person interaction to travel, something that may continue for a long time. 工具，比如大规模的实地研究, 观察性研究, and household travel surveys can help gauge 在哪里 we are in the short term and how we move through this crisis and forward,”博士指出. Jenness. “这些研究可以在当地进行, 区域, 甚至在全国范围内, coupled with stringent statistical analysis and evaluation.” This research will inform resource-strained regions about the new normal of travel, helping policymakers find solutions within the confines of tighter budgets, to be more resource efficient and effective while enhancing the safety of the traveling public.

我们如何旅行

公共交通工具, 轻轨, and subways—will continue to be challenged as they remain functioning yet with significantly reduced ridership, incurring additional operating expenses for increased cleaning and disinfecting. Will transit riders be willing to wear masks? 在非高峰时间旅行? Feel confident about protocols for increased cleaning? “We will face a challenge to restore confidence in public transit,”博士指出. Jenness. “People who have a choice may prefer the sanctity of their own vehicle, 就像一个安全泡泡, and in some cities we are seeing people seek out and use alternative modes of transportation such as bicycles and electric bikes that allow for some degree of social distance. 进行长途旅行, 在过去航空旅行是常态的地方, we may see more people choosing to drive themselves. The current low price of gasoline also makes this attractive.”

Here, again, the answers to these questions rely on research. Tools like online surveys that can drill down into the public’s comfort level will be key. Smartphone apps can gather and deliver survey data of up-to-date travel and real-time activity. Household travel surveys at local and 状态 levels can develop models of travel demand and forecasting, as 好吧 as transportation planning activities. These surveys can collect detailed sociodemographic data and detailed travel behavior data, pinpointing areas of particular concern and how travel activity and behavior change over time.

游客的行为

Despite fewer vehicles on the inter状态s and regional roads due to the stay-at-home orders in a majority of 状态s, 交通安全已成为一个重大问题. Crashes are down, but the ones that occur are more severe. “超速, 积极推动, and increased risk-taking are the most common reasons,耶利米•辛格指出。, 韦斯特公司的研究助理. “People have the opportunity to speed due to the largely empty roadways,”他解释说, “but the level of extreme speeding has become a significant problem, with people being ticketed going 100 mph and above on a regular basis.”

Mr. Singer has done extensive research on driver behavior, 分散注意力, 注意, 和在路上的意见, closed-course, 以及实验室研究. “人们压力很大，”他指出. “People are stressed by personal health issues, 个人经济问题, 再加上居家令，还有, 现在, 全职疲劳. It will be important to study how these effects are piling up on driver behavior.” Researchers can tap into publically available data on speeding and other violations to get a clear picture of what’s actually going on out there on the roads. Following up with online surveys about behavior will provide significant insight.

And behavior behind the wheel is also affecting pedestrians. More people are choosing to walk or bike rather than potentially exposing themselves to the virus on public transit. The combination of more people walking and biking, 加上司机超速驾驶的增加, 好吧, 这是解决大问题的方法. “Pedestrian and vehicle interaction,” notes Mr. Singer, “might result in more severe incidents, more fatalities. 观察性研究, 路研究, 实验室研究, 网上焦点小组, and interviews will provide answers to what is going on.”

We ask more questions than we can answer here, but the data will point the way to those answers. These “COVID-19 years” cannot compare to previous data. There are no apples-to-apples comparisons here. 联邦, 状态, and local governments and the commercial sector will benefit by relying on the tools of transportation research to find a new road through the “new normal.”