Type | Journal Article |
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Author | Md. Mehedi Hasnat |
Author | Eleni Bardaka |
URL | https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2213624X22000852 |
Publication | Case Studies on Transport Policy |
Date | 2022-04-22 |
Journal Abbr | Case Studies on Transport Policy |
DOI | 10.1016/j.cstp.2022.04.010 |
Library Catalog | ScienceDirect |
Language | en |
Abstract | Steep reduction in motor vehicle travel during the COVID-19 pandemic has plummeted the fuel sales affecting the revenue streams of state Departments of Transportation (DOTs) across the US. The objective of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of a number of user-based and general revenue generation mechanisms in reducing the transportation revenue shortfall or providing more stable revenue during a pandemic. State policies and pilot programs as well as public perception studies are reviewed to develop reasonable scenarios of tax and fee schemes, and price elasticity estimates are used to account for the effect of higher travel cost on demand for travel. We specifically focus on the adverse impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the transportation revenue in North Carolina (NC) using data from January to October 2020. The results indicate that monthly transportation revenue in NC could not have been sustained by increasing the state motor fuels tax up to 50% or motor vehicle fees up to 100%. On the other hand, increasing the highway use tax (state vehicle sales tax) from 3% to 8% would have eliminated the monthly shortfall in the state transportation revenue. Replacing the state fuels tax by mileage-based user fees could not bridge the gap between the monthly collected and projected state transportation revenue, even for high per-mile charges for passenger vehicles and trucks. Promising results are found for instituting an additional 0.75% state sales tax dedicated to general transportation use which could have provided adequate funding to eliminate the monthly shortfall in transportation revenue in NC during the COVID-19 pandemic. Dependence on state sale and use tax for transportation revenue is preferred and would lead to a lower shortfall compared to the motor fuels tax in a pandemic. |
Date Added | 4/28/2022, 9:37:03 AM |
Type | Journal Article |
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Author | Xiaomeng Dong |
Author | Kun Xie |
Author | Hong Yang |
URL | https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0001457522001233 |
Pages | 106687 |
Publication | Accident Analysis & Prevention |
Date | 2022-04-27 |
Journal Abbr | Accident Analysis & Prevention |
DOI | 10.1016/j.aap.2022.106687 |
Library Catalog | ScienceDirect |
Language | en |
Abstract | Risky driving behaviors such as speeding and failing to signal have been witnessed more frequently during the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in higher rates of severe crashes. This study aims to investigate how the COVID-19 pandemic impacts the likelihood of severe crashes via changing driving behaviors. Multigroup structural equation modeling (SEM) is used to capture the complex interrelationships between crash injury severity, the context of COVID-19, driving behaviors, and other risk factors for two different groups, i.e., highways and non-highways. The SEM constructs two latent variables, namely aggressiveness and inattentiveness, which are indicated by risk driving behaviors such as speeding, drunk driving, and distraction. One great advantage of SEM is that the measurement of latent variables and interrelationship modeling can be achieved simultaneously in one statistical estimation procedure. Group differences between highways and non-highways are tested using different equality constraints and multigroup SEM with equal regressions can deliver the augmented performance. The smaller severity threshold for the highway group indicates that it is more likely that a crash could involve severe injuries on highways as compared to those on non-highways. Results suggest that aggressiveness and inattentiveness of drivers increased significantly after the outbreak of COVID-19, leading to a higher likelihood of severe crashes. Failing to account for the indirect effect of COVID-19 via changing driving behaviors, the conventional probit model suggests an insignificant impact of COVID-19 on crash severity. Findings of this study provide insights into the effect of changing driving behaviors on safety during disruptive events like COVID-19. |
Date Added | 4/28/2022, 9:26:42 AM |
Type | Journal Article |
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Author | Rezwana Rafiq |
Author | Michael G. McNally |
Author | Yusuf Sarwar Uddin |
Author | Tanjeeb Ahmed |
URL | https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0965856422000507 |
Volume | 159 |
Pages | 35-54 |
Publication | Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice |
Date | 2022-05-01 |
Journal Abbr | Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice |
DOI | 10.1016/j.tra.2022.03.003 |
Library Catalog | ScienceDirect |
Language | en |
Abstract | The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has created significant public health concerns that led the public and private sectors to impose stay-at-home and work-from-home policies. Although working from home has been a conventional albeit infrequent behavior, the prevalence of this option was significantly and rapidly accelerated during the pandemic. This study explored the impacts of working from home on activity-travel behavior during the pandemic. Both work and non-work activity participation declined during the pandemic but to what extent was this due to working from home? How did working from home affect other measures of travel such as person-miles traveled? We approached these questions by developing a Structural Regression model and using cross-sectional data for the early phase of the pandemic when the infection curve was flattened and activity-travel behavior became relatively stable following the drastic changes observed during the pandemic’s initial shock. Combining U.S. county-level data from the Maryland Transportation Institute and Google Mobility Reports, we concluded that the proportion of people working from home directly depended on pandemic severity and associated public health policies as well as on a range of socio-economic characteristics. Working from home contributed to a reduction in workplace visits. It also reduced non-work activities but only via a reduction in non-work activities linked to work. Finally, a higher working from home proportion in a county corresponded to a reduction in average person-miles traveled. A higher degree of state government responses to containment and closure policies contributed to an increase in working from home, and decreases in workplace and non-workplace visits and person-miles traveled in a county. The results of this study provide important insights into changes in activity-travel behavior associated with working from home as a response strategy to major disruptions such as those imposed by a pandemic. |
Date Added | 4/25/2022, 9:47:57 AM |
Type | Web Page |
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URL | https://transweb.sjsu.edu/research/2140-Transit-Social-Distancing |
Date | 2022-03-23T18:48:54-07:00 |
Abstract | During the COVID-19 pandemic, LA Metro has encouraged social distancing among passengers—especially at stations of high-demand routes—and has increased fixed-route transit (FRT) services. However, potential impacts of social distancing on the performance of FRT services remain mostly unknown. This research evaluates the accessibility of FRT buses with social distancing using the ridership data collected on four FRT routes: 105, 108, 111, and 115 of the LA Metro's A Line stations located in low-income neighborhoods. This research shows that social distancing of six feet can impact FRT's accessibility to destination stations, and maximum accessibility is achieved only for a certain number of stops served—which is less than the current number of stops served. The FRT routes 105, 108, 111 and 115 have maximum accessibility with social distancing for the number of stops served equal to 65, 52, 52 and 50, respectively. The methodology used in this research can help decision-makers understand how FRT bus frequencies are impacted by social distancing measures, and the results can guide the transit authorities developing FRT service among low-income commuters during and after the pandemic. |
Website Title | Mineta Transportation Institute |
Date Added | 4/26/2022, 10:54:56 AM |
Type | Journal Article |
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Author | Shasha Liu |
Author | Toshiyuki Yamamoto |
URL | https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0965856422000568 |
Volume | 159 |
Pages | 1-16 |
Publication | Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice |
Date | 2022-05-01 |
Journal Abbr | Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice |
DOI | 10.1016/j.tra.2022.03.009 |
Library Catalog | ScienceDirect |
Language | en |
Abstract | COVID-19 is one of the worst global health crises in a century. Japan confirmed its first case of COVID-19 in mid-January and declared a state of emergency in April and May 2020, urging people to stay at home and reduce travel. Using Mobile Spatial Statistics (i.e., population statistics created from operational data of mobile terminal networks), we estimated daily intra- and inter-prefectural population mobility in the Tokyo Megalopolis Region, Japan in 2020. Then, we developed a compartmental model with population mobility to explore the role of stay-at-home requests and travel restrictions in preventing the spread of COVID-19. This model describes the COVID-19 pandemic through a susceptible-exposed-presymptomatic infectious-undocumented and documented infectious-removed (SEPIR) process and incorporates intra- and inter-prefectural population mobility into the transmission process. We found that people significantly reduced travel during the state of emergency, although stay-at-home requests and travel restrictions were recommended rather than mandatory. The reduction in population mobility, combined with other control measures, resulted in a substantial reduction in effective reproduction numbers to below 1, thus controlling the first wave of the pandemic. Moreover, the relationship between population mobility and COVID-19 transmission changed over time. The dampening of the second wave of the pandemic indicated that smaller reductions in population mobility could result in pandemic control, probably because of other social distancing behaviors. Our proposed model can be used to analyze the impact of different public health interventions, and our findings shed light on the effectiveness of soft containments in curbing the spread of COVID-19. |
Date Added | 4/25/2022, 9:46:32 AM |
Type | Journal Article |
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Author | Danique Ton |
Author | Koen Arendsen |
Author | Menno de Bruyn |
Author | Valerie Severens |
Author | Mark van Hagen |
Author | Niels van Oort |
Author | Dorine Duives |
URL | https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0965856422000660 |
Volume | 159 |
Pages | 55-73 |
Publication | Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice |
Date | 2022-05-01 |
Journal Abbr | Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice |
DOI | 10.1016/j.tra.2022.03.019 |
Library Catalog | ScienceDirect |
Language | en |
Abstract | With the arrival of COVID-19 in the Netherlands in Spring 2020 and the start of the “intelligent lockdown”, daily life changed drastically. The working population was urged to telework as much as possible. However, not everyone had a suitable job for teleworking or liked teleworking. From a mobility perspective, teleworking was considered a suitable means to alleviate travel. Even after the pandemic it can (continue to) reduce pressure on the mobility system during peak hours, thereby improving efficiency and level of service of transport services. Additionally, this could reduce transport externalities, such as emissions and unsafety. The structural impact from teleworking offers opportunities, but also challenges for the planning and operations of public transport. The aim of this study is to better understand teleworking during and after COVID-19 among train travellers, to support operators and authorities in their policy making and design. We study the telework behaviour, attitude towards teleworking, and future intentions through a longitudinal data collection. By applying a latent class cluster analysis, we identified six types of teleworkers, varying in their frequency of teleworking, attitude towards teleworking, intentions to the future, socio-demographics and employer policy. In terms of willingness-to-telework in the future, we distinguish three groups: the high willingness-to-telework group (71%), the low willingness-to-telework group (16%), and the least-impacted self-employed (12%). Those with high willingness are expected to have lasting changes in their travel patterns, where especially public transport is impacted. For this group, policy is required to ensure when (which days) and where (geographical) telework takes place, such that public transport operators can better plan and operate their services. For those with low willingness, it is essential that the government provides tools to companies (especially in education and vital sector) such that they can be better prepared for teleworking (mostly during but also after the pandemic). Employers on the other hand need to better support their employees, such that they stay in contact with colleagues and their concentration and productivity can increase. |
Date Added | 4/25/2022, 10:00:59 AM |
Type | Journal Article |
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Author | João Filipe Teixeira |
Author | Cecília Silva |
Author | Frederico Moura e Sá |
URL | https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0965856422000659 |
Volume | 159 |
Pages | 17-34 |
Publication | Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice |
Date | 2022-05-01 |
Journal Abbr | Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice |
DOI | 10.1016/j.tra.2022.03.018 |
Library Catalog | ScienceDirect |
Language | en |
Abstract | COVID-19 has dramatically impacted urban mobility, of which public transport (PT) has been particularly affected. With PT ridership plummeting due to infection fears and many people returning to work, there is a danger of a steep rise in car use that would exacerbate environmental and health problems. Therefore, other modes such as bike sharing should be considered as potential alternatives during the coronavirus pandemic. This study focuses on assessing how coronavirus has impacted bike sharing by implementing a travel behaviour survey to the users of GIRA, the bike sharing system (BSS) of Lisbon. While the coronavirus has led some to decrease the frequency of use or quit the system, other users have increased the usage or joined GIRA during the pandemic. Furthermore, most users who have quit or decreased the usage of GIRA justify their decision not so much on avoiding the risk of infection (although for some it is an important reason) but on having stopped commuting due to COVID-19. The survey has also revealed substantial changes not only on the usage patterns of GIRA users but also on their relationship with other modes of transport. While before the pandemic, most respondents were shifting from PT to GIRA, that percentage has declined, with an increase on the share of users replacing walking, private car, and personal cycling. Moreover, the motivations for using bike sharing related with avoiding PT and maintaining a social distance during the trip have gained more relevance. Concurrently, the perceived safety of using PT has drastically declined, and while the perceived safety of using GIRA has also decreased it was in a much smaller scale. Policy insights can be derived from this research on how bike sharing can contribute to a more sustainable and resilient urban transport system. During infectious public health crises such as COVID-19, BSS can be a viable transport alternative, not only providing the population with an affordable mode of transport where social distancing can be maintained in most of the trip but also mitigating a modal shift from PT to the private car. |
Date Added | 4/25/2022, 9:47:10 AM |