Impact of Covid-19 on Willingness to Share Trips.

ABSTRACT

This study relied on primary data from transportation users to investigate the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on shared mobility types. The study used ordinal logistic regression models to explore the relationship between Covid-19 spread-mitigative protocols and the willingness to share trips with family, friends, and strangers. Travellers who were moderately affected by social distancing had [0.356 (95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.189 - 0.669; p = 0.05)] times the rate willing to share public vehicles and [0.492 (95% CI = 0.189 - 0.268; p = 0.001)] times the rate willing to share private cars than commuters who mostly affected. Commuters with a minor extent of means of transportation change at (α < 0.0001) significance level had 0.330 times the rate willing to share personal cars with family and friends. At the same time, 0.434 times the rate (α < 0.01) willing to share public vehicles with strangers compared to commuters who had a major extent of means of transportation change. The prevalence rates of change were higher during Covid-19 than precovid, showing that the pandemic set an impetus for a modal shift from public to private vehicular use, with a probable effect on willingness to share trips postcovid, ceteris paribus. Consequently, the study concludes that the transportation regulators could continue to sensitise travellers, regulate passenger spacings, monitor and enforce gears to make shared mobility more appealing to people during and post-pandemic periods.