TRANSPORT AND PANDEMIC EXPERIENCES: AN INTRODUCTION

Transport and pandemics are interlinked given the ubiquitous nature of modern transport systems. The COVID-19 pandemic has provided much evidence for both virus contagion but also containment and how transport plays a role in both. As the world and its cities experienced lockdowns, there were travel restrictions, physical social distancing rules, transport systems shut down, changed operations, a re-opening with lower demands in some sectors (e.g., air transport and urban public transport services) and an increased demand in others (e.g., freight and home deliveries). These changes brought about a series of reactions at all levels, from governments and local authorities, operators of all transport modes but also personal and individual behaviour. This volume provides evidence on an array of transport and pandemic experiences through a collection of works from around the world, each chapter discussing a mode, a region and possible future outcomes. This introductory chapter provides the context for this volume with an overview of literature that looks at transport and pandemics, a timeline of events that marked the COVID-19 pandemic developments across different parts of the world, and finally an overview of the chapters in the volume. It concludes with some insights from the editors on the future of transport in a post-COVID world. © 2022 by Emerald Publishing Limited.

Introduction

This book provides multiple insights and support to the policy area of transport and land use. It provides a focus on the ability of transport policy and land use policy to deliver not only the preferred urban form but also to do so with a level of accessibility for citizens to access the destinations of choice. Although not constrained by sections, the book starts from the more general and works toward the specific. Following scene setting to establish the links between urban form and accessibility and to explore the implications for sustainable planning in urban areas, chapters are grouped by topic. The next group of chapters discusses the impact of governance and this is followed by a number of chapters broadly investigating urban form and accessibility in the context of travel behavior. The following three groups of chapters discuss more specific areas: health, equity, and public transport network planning. The concluding chapter is an in-depth consideration of the role of logistics in the determination of sustainable urban form. In addition to summarizing the book’s chapters, this introduction provides a brief commentary on the influence of COVID-19 and identifies the areas for future research. © 2021 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.