Abstract
The global COVID-19 outbreak has demanded drastic actions and policies from the governments and local authorities to stem the spread of the virus. Most of the measures involve behavioural changes from citizens to reduce their social contact to a minimum. Thus, these actions influence individual activity patterns and transport systems in different ways. This paper studies the short-term impacts on the transport system caused by the different policies adopted by the Colombian government and local authorities to contain the COVID-19 spread. Using official and secondary data concerning the seven most populated cities in Colombia, we analyse the impacts on three components of the transport system: air transport, freight transport, and urban transport. Results show that national policies and local decisions have decreased the demand for motorised trips across the cities, diminishing congestion levels, reducing transit ridership, and creating a reduction in transport externalities. The country banned air transport for passengers and only allowed air cargo for medical and necessary supplies, which will have negative consequences for the economics of the airline industry. During the first three months of the COVID-19, freight was the most resilient transport component. However, freight trips diminished around 38%, affecting mainly the supply chain of nonessential products. During the pandemic, governments need to provide subsidies to maintain the system supply to avoid crowdedness and promote active transport by allocating less-used street space to cyclists and pedestrians. In the short term, transportation service providers will face a financial crisis, deepened by the pandemic, which will require government assistance for their recovery.
Highlights
Introduction e rapid spread of COVID19 worldwide has generated a public health crisis that started in December 2019
Are the measures adopted to mitigate the income losses of airline operators: (i) Streamline the return of balances in favour of airlines by the tax authority (ii) Suspend the payment of charges from airport concessionaires (iii) Suspend the maximum supplementary work cap for air traffic controllers, firefighters, and aeronautical technicians (iv) In case of withdrawal requests, airlines may make reimbursements represented in services provided by themselves (v) e Colombian aeronautical authority may modify the requirement of guarantees of compliance to aeronautical companies (vi) e aeronautical authority may sign payment agreements with air transport companies (vii) Suspend new charges related to airport infrastructure (viii) Transitory suspension of leasing fees collection
In Colombia, urban trips, freight movements, and commercial flights diminished after the state of emergency declaration, the decision to close national borders, and social distancing measures
Summary
Received 9 April 2020; Revised 6 July 2020; Accepted 28 July 2020; Published 14 August 2020. Is paper studies the short-term impacts on the transport system caused by the different policies adopted by the Colombian government and local authorities to contain the COVID-19 spread. Our analysis will centre around the impacts of social distancing measures on demand and supply of three components of the transport system: air transport, freight transport, and urban transport in the seven most populated Colombian cities. Is paper seeks to contribute to the understanding of the impacts on travel behaviour and on the transport system caused by the different actions and policies adopted by the Colombian government and transport authorities to contain the COVID-19 spread. Considering the actions adopted by the different countries and their impact to contain the spread of COVID19, Sohrabi et al [22] derived some public policy guidelines. Social distancing: no more than 500 people in one place Closure of land, sea, and river borders until May 30.Mandatory preventive isolation for people older than 70 until May 31
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