Impact on City Bus Transit Services of the COVID–19 Lockdown and Return to the New Normal: The Case of A Coruña (Spain)

Alfonso Orro, Margarita Novales, Ángel Monteagudo, José-Benito Pérez-López and Miguel R. Bugarín
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Alfonso Orro: Group of Railways and Transportation Engineering, Department of Civil Engineering, ETS Ingenieros de Caminos, Canales y Puertos, Universidade da Coruña, Campus de Elviña, 15071 A Coruña, Spain
Margarita Novales: Group of Railways and Transportation Engineering, Department of Civil Engineering, ETS Ingenieros de Caminos, Canales y Puertos, Universidade da Coruña, Campus de Elviña, 15071 A Coruña, Spain
Ángel Monteagudo: Group of Railways and Transportation Engineering, Department of Civil Engineering, ETS Ingenieros de Caminos, Canales y Puertos, Universidade da Coruña, Campus de Elviña, 15071 A Coruña, Spain
José-Benito Pérez-López: Group of Railways and Transportation Engineering, Department of Economics, Facultad de Economía y Empresa, Universidade da Coruña, Campus de Elviña, 15071 A Coruña, Spain
Miguel R. Bugarín: Group of Railways and Transportation Engineering, Department of Civil Engineering, ETS Ingenieros de Caminos, Canales y Puertos, Universidade da Coruña, Campus de Elviña, 15071 A Coruña, Spain

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 17, 1-30

Abstract: The COVID–19 pandemic led to restrictions on activities and mobility in many parts of the world. After the main peak of the crisis, restrictions were gradually removed, returning to a new normal situation. This process has impacted urban mobility. The limited information on the new normal situation shows changes that can be permanent or reversible. The impact on the diverse urban transport modes varies. This study analyzes the changes in transit ridership by line, the use of stops, the main origin–destination flows, changes in transit supply, operation time, and reliability of the city bus network of A Coruña. It is based on data from automatic vehicle location, bus stop boarding, and smart card use. Data from the first half of 2020 were compared to similar data in 2017–2019, defining suitable baselines for each analysis to avoid seasonal and day of week effects. The impact on transit ridership during the lockdown process was more significant than that on general traffic. In the new normal situation, the general traffic and the shared bike system recovered a higher percentage of their previous use than the bus system. These impacts are not uniform across the bus network.

Keywords: COVID–19; urban mobility; transit demand; transit supply; sustainable modes (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (15)

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