North American Transportation During COVID-19: What Really Changed?

Matthew Palm

No dx258, OSF Preprints from Center for Open Science

Abstract: COVID-19 arrived in the United States and Canada at a time when the future of sustainable urban travel across the continent looked uncertain. A decade-long trend in transit ridership growth appeared to have stalled in many cities (Boisjoly et al., 2018), while automobile ownership grew. This chapter synthesizes unfolding evidence on how COVID-19 disrupted some of these existing trends in North American urban transportation while accelerating others. This synthesis is organized around three themes emerging from COVID-19 in the region: declining transit ridership, increased auto ownership or auto purchase plans, and a possible ‘new normal’ of increased telecommuting. I evaluate each theme in the context of prior trends and public policy choices feeding those trends. Untangling hype from data, the chapter concludes with recommendations on how to support travelers in the region while calling for clearer thinking from urban thought leaders and researchers on the likely long-term impact of the crisis.

Date: 2022-01-15
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-tre and nep-ure
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:osf:osfxxx:dx258

DOI: 10.31219/osf.io/dx258

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