Why are Hanoi students giving up on bus ridership?

University students are regarded as a readily available market segment for public transport. In Hanoi, as elsewhere, they constitute a large portion of bus passengers. However, one portion has been quitting buses, and the reasons were so far unknown. Nor was it clear whether they planned on retuning. Through a survey of more than 800 students in seven higher education institutions, this study aimed to find the answers to these questions. The study revealed that bus ridership was determined by socio-demographic variables (year of studies, household income, employment status, motorcycle ownership), environmental variables (home-university distance), and psychological variables (convenience, bus staff behaviour, risk of sexual harassment, reliability and health, image and status). A negative disruptor such as the fear of Covid-19 infection had little effect on the decision to continue riding buses. Meanwhile, the prospect of riding 'clean and green' electric buses, which were introduced in a pilot program, was a positive disruptor that may lead a portion of students to return to public transport.

What if delivery riders quit? Challenges to last-mile logistics during the Covid-19 pandemic

Notoriously precarious, hazardous, and stressful, delivery jobs became even more onerous and dangerous during the pandemic. In this study, set in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, we applied Structural Equation Modelling to a large sample of primary data to measure delivery riders' intention to quit their jobs at the height of the pandemic. We found that job burnout was the key trigger to the intention to quit whereas the risk of Covid-19 infection did not directly affect this behavioral intention. Female riders, migrants, persons living with chronic diseases, and those who had seen their income decimated during the pandemic were more likely to want to quit their job. But if a mass of delivery drivers or riders had failed to show up for work, the last-mile delivery sector would have become paralysed, leaving individuals in various states of lockdown or isolation without food and supplies. As the sector is poised to retain its importance in the post-pandemic period, we recommend a number of approaches for both private companies and public policy makers to persuade riders to stay in their jobs. First and foremost, strategies to prevent and mitigate job burnout should be formulated.

Health and safety risks faced by delivery riders during the Covid-19 pandemic.

OBJECTIVES: Delivery riders have been front-line workers throughout the pandemic but little is known about their own health and safety during this time. This study explores the health and safety issues facing delivery riders in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, during the Covid-19 pandemic, in particular during the second lockdown (May-October 2021). METHOD: A web-based survey of more than 800 riders was conducted in August-September 2021. Following descriptive statistics, four logit models were fitted to examine the factors associated with (a) sanitizing one's hands, (b) using a face shield, (c) contracting a new health issue, and (d) engaging in riskier traffic behaviors during the lockdown. RESULTS: The riders who were less consistent in adopting health and safety measures tended to be male, older, less-educated, and vaccinated. Also, they were under greater financial pressure and had suffered a larger loss of income during the pandemic. To recover the loss, they worked longer hours and felt under more intense pressure at work. The job pressure, long working hours, and financial burdens led many drivers to adopt risky traffic behaviors, such as speeding. Conversely, where the companies and co-workers were more supportive, riders tended to adopt health prevention measures more often. Fear of Covid-19 also acted as a facilitator. Job and financial pressure combined with the fear of contracting the virus contributed to the occurrence of new heath issues during the pandemic. Again, support from the company and co-workers helped to reduce the risk of new health problems emerging. CONCLUSION: In Ho Chi Minh City and other Global South megacities that employ tens of thousands of riders, ensuring their health and safety is important to support both private businesses and public health. Overall, companies should assume a much larger responsibility here.

The emergence of recreational cycling in Hanoi during the Covid-19 pandemic.

OBJECTIVES: This study examined recreational cycling in Hanoi, Vietnam, with a particular focus on changes brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic. The research questions were: (1) Has recreational cycling increased during the Covid-19 pandemic?; (2) If so, what factors have led to the increase?; and (3) What are some of the typical traits and behaviors of recreational cyclists? METHOD: Face-to-face surveys of 356 recreational cyclists were carried out in March-April 2021 in four areas of inner Hanoi. The survey data were modelled through two binary and one ordinal logit regression. RESULTS: Recreational cycling has become much more popular in Hanoi during the Covid-19 pandemic, with early morning being the preferred time for this activity (to avoid heavy traffic). A quarter of the participants had starting cycling recreationally since the first lockdown in April 2020, and about three quarters reported having noticed an increase in cycling activity around them. Nearly half of the participants cycled regularly (more than four times per week). The groups that were most likely to have taken up cycling for recreations during the pandemic included men, those living with children in the home, and those not working or studying. Age and income were not significant. People have been embracing cycling as a way to maintain or increase physical activity levels, and to safely socialize at the time when social gatherings are limited, walking is prohibited in some zones, and social distancing rules apply everywhere. CONCLUSION: To sustain the growth in recreational cycling and widen the time-window for this activity while ensuring everyone's safety, Hanoi's planning and public health sectors should join forces to adopt a combination of 'hard' and 'soft' measures. The authors recommend creating multi-use paths for micromobility modes, launching a public bikesharing scheme, regulating motorised modes, and social marketing that promotes recreational cycling as trendy.

Covid-19 need not spell the death of public transport: Learning from Hanoi's safety measures.

OBJECTIVES: In contrast to other cities worldwide, the pandemic has not decimated bus ridership in Hanoi. Notably, the Vietnamese capital has mostly relied on the use of face masks and hand sanitizer during travel, instead of requiring physical distancing on buses. This study examines public bus passengers' levels of compliance with Covid-19 safety measures, and the factors that affect compliance. METHODS: Face-to-face surveys were administered between 7 September and 3 October 2020, right after the end of the third wave of Covid-19 in Hanoi on 51 bus routes. Exploratory Factor Analysis was carried out to extract factors from attitudinal statements. The extracted factors, passengers' socio-demographic traits, and their bus use patterns were modelled to determine which variables lead to more compliance with Covid-19 safety measures. RESULTS: We found that 100% of passengers wore face masks (which were mandated), albeit 11% did so incorrectly, while only 28% of passengers used the hand sanitizer provided by bus operators (which was recommended but not required). In addition, 38% of passengers carried their own bottles of hand sanitizer while travelling, despite a relatively low risk of contracting the virus. Women, older passengers, and urbanites were less likely to sanitise their hands. Frequent bus travellers behaved like the population at large with regard to protective measures against Covid-19. CONCLUSIONS: Hanoi's overall measures - full use of face masks and partial use of hand sanitizer - were sufficient to contain three relatively minor Covid-19 waves while still maintaining regular bus operations most of the time. If other cities were able to reach these levels of compliance, most would be in much better position vis-à-vis public transport use during the pandemic (or an epidemic). Our findings suggest that mandates work much better than awareness raising campaigns, although the latter have a role to play.

The impact of Covid-19 on children's active travel to school in Vietnam.

This is among the first studies to provide empirical evidence on active school travel rates and determinants before and after the first Covid-19 lockdown in spring 2020. We have collected and analyzed primary survey data on the school travel patterns of 472 school-age children in Hanoi, Vietnam. The findings show that the Covid-19 pandemic has been quite detrimental: once schools reopened, the prevalence of active school travel decreased from 53% to less than 31%. Where parents, especially mothers, did not face barriers to motorized travel, they assumed the role of chauffeur. Parents who were more concerned about community infections were more motivated to shift children to motorized modes. Walking was more affected than cycling because it was seen as more likely to lead to physical contact and virus transmission. Active school travel dropped more steeply in urban districts (as opposed to poorer, non-urban districts) and in those areas where home-school distances were the largest. It appears that the most common perceptions around barriers to active school travel have been exacerbated during the pandemic as parents and children adapt to "the new normal".