The post-pandemic public transport crisis: a statistical analysis of travel habits in Sicily, Italy

ABSTRACT

The mobility sector accounts for about 10% of Italy's GDP, where the role of local Public Transport (PT) is crucial. Generally, PT use can limit the negative environmental impacts. However, with the advent of the recent pandemic, the local PT demand and mobility rate in Italy has decreased significantly, particularly during the lockdown period. Further restrictions were recently implemented (October - December 2021) on PT and on gathering areas to reduce potential contagion from virus variants. Such an uncertain situation has resulted in an epoch-making change in travel habits due to both the relevant restrictions for containing contagions (e.g., quotas of seats on-board, sanitization, use of masks) and the consequent psychosocial effects (e.g., anxiety, fear, and stress perceived by users when travelling). The present research assesses the PT use habits in the different pandemic phases. The data were collected from a sample of regular PT users in Sicily, Italy. The correlation analysis helped uncover significant factors responsible for influencing travel habits. The statistical analysis further revealed that the users travel habits have certainly changed during all the pandemic phases. The results lay the foundations for planning transport services and improving post-pandemic mobility in the examined context. © 2023 The Authors. Published by ELSEVIER B.V.