COVID-19 Countermeasures and Passengers’ Confidence of Urban Rail Travel in Bangkok

Abstract

Rail transit systems around the world have been suffering from heavily reduced ridership due to reduced capacity for social distancing and passengers’ concern over the risk of COVID-19 infection. Various countermeasures were implemented to reduce the COVID-19 risk so that passengers felt safe to travel on rail. The objectives of this study were to evaluate COVID-19 countermeasures of Bangkok’s urban rail from passengers’ viewpoints and examine its influence on passenger’s confidence. The background of the COVID-19 pandemic in Thailand and the rail countermeasures implemented in Bangkok were summarized. The data were obtained from an interview survey of 1105 railway passengers conducted at the stations during the second wave of the pandemic. Factor analyses and structural equation modeling were conducted. The results revealed that social distancing was not satisfied by the passengers but adversely caused inconvenience and increased infection risk when the station or rail were congested. On the other hand, the passenger temperature check, face mask enforcement, and hand sanitization countermeasures were found to highly and positively contribute to passengers’ confidence. Contact tracing application was also found to raise awareness and confidence. The findings provided insights for rail authorities and related agencies to effectively implement the countermeasures that would be practically and financially sustainable.

Influence of COVID-19 Mobility-Restricting Policies on Individual Travel Behavior in Malaysia

“…According to the findings, two factors, namely infection concern and wearing face masks, play a significant role in choosing a travel mode, followed by social distancing and cleanliness. The findings are in line with the previous studies reflecting the impacts perceived safety and concerns about being infected had on mode choice [74][75][76]. The effects of sociodemographic factors such as gender, car ownership, marital status, and job status on prioritizing pandemic-related items when selecting a mode of transportation were also studied.…”

Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices Regarding “New Normal” Guidelines and Quality of Life Among Thai People During the COVID-19 Outbreak: An Online Cross-Sectional Survey

“…Our findings indicated that 89.9% of participants expressed willingness to get vaccinated against COVID-19, whereas Kitro et al found that less than half of Thai people and expatriates living in Thailand were willing to get vaccinated against COVID-19 (41.8%) ( 39 ). A series of mobile health applications have been introduced by the healthcare sector and implemented to aid disease control monitoring and prevention of widespread outbreaks ( 14 – 16 ). However, the study showed that the use of those applications was relatively rare because of the low rate of digital literacy among Thai people ( 40 ).…”

“…“New normal” guidelines refer to the requirement for Thai people to modify their behaviors and change their lifestyle patterns to prevent COVID-19 infection ( 11 – 13 ). Examples of such changes include working from home, covering the mouth when coughing and sneezing, wearing a cloth mask or surgical mask, maintaining a distance of at least 1 m from others, washing hands frequently, checking body temperature, self-assessment and tracing using the MorChana application (Ministry of Digital Economy and Society, Bangkok, Thailand) to track movements ( 14 ), checking in and checking out of visited locations using ThaiChana [“Thais win” in Thai language; Center for COVID-19 Situation Administration (CCSA), Bangkok, Thailand] ( 15 ), accessing vaccine services with Morprom (Ministry of Public Health, Bangkok, Thailand) ( 16 ), and businesses and services providing online instead of offline services to adapt to the current situation. Lifestyle changes to shift to a “new normal” mode may therefore be essential measures for the prevention of subsequent waves of COVID-19 and re-emergence in future outbreaks.…”

Perceived risks of transit use during COVID-19: Correlates and strategies from a case study in El Paso, Texas

“…A study in Sweden showed a 40%–60% decrease in public transit ridership ( Jenelius and Cebecauer, 2020 ). In Bangkok, Thailand, the railway ridership reduced by 79% during April 2020 ( Vichiensan et al, 2021 ). In Hong Kong, China, people reduced their Metro Transit Railway use by more than 40% from January to March 2020 ( Zhang et al, 2021 ).…”

“…Low transit ridership could further lead to financial crises and operational difficulties. As many studies highlighted, fear of infection and unfavorable public views of transit services are the primary challenges for rebuilding transit riders' confidence ( Abdullah et al, 2021 ; Ashraf Javid et al, 2021 ; Hotle et al, 2020 ; Vichiensan et al, 2021 ). Given COVID-19 may remain a potential public health threat for a longer period of time than what might once have been expected, building trust and attracting riders back have become crucial priorities for Sun Metro and other transit providers.…”