Cycling in the Era of COVID-19: Lessons Learnt and Best Practice Policy Recommendations for a More Bike-Centric Future

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected our cities in monumental ways with no sector likely being more severely impacted than transport. Lockdowns, physical spacing, transport restrictions and stay-at-home guidelines have transformed personal mobility and highlighted the mistakes of an unbalanced pro-car culture that defined a century of urban planning. One immediate effect of the virus in relation to travel demand and supply was the emergence of active travel modes because of their unique ability to provide a socially distanced way of transport. Cycling is one of the modes that has enjoyed significant attention. Numerous cities have reallocated street and public space to cyclists and introduced pro-bike interventions like pop-up cycle lanes, e-bike subsidies, free bike-share use and traffic calming measures. This newly found outbreak-induced momentum creates an opportunity to establish a new ethos that allows the promotion of potentially permanent strategies that may help cycling to be (re-)established as a robust, mainstream and resilient travel mode for inner city trips and not as a second-class alternative operating under the automobile’s giant shadow. This paper provides a state-of-the-art description of the anti-COVID cycling-friendly initiatives that have been introduced globally, the successes and failures of these initiatives, the lessons learnt that can help us redefine the bicycle’s role in local societies today and a best cycling practice policy guide for planning a more bike-centric future.

Effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on bike-sharing demand and hire time: Evidence from Santander Cycles in London

“…Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many countries introduced stringent measures to contain the spread of the virus. This resulted in important changes in travel behaviour [ 10 ], especially in urban settings; for example, as a consequence of restrictions on travelling, and safety concerns regarding travelling on public transit [ 11 – 13 ], and reduction in the frequency of public transport services. In this regard, for example, Noland [ 14 ], discusses the relationship between mobility and the reproduction rate of COVID-19.…”

Capturing Twitter Negativity Pre- vs. Mid-COVID-19 Pandemic: An LDA Application on London Public Transport System

“…Based on results from different countries, it can be argued that the implementation of social distancing measures had a significant effect on personal mobility [2,3]. The daily number of trips was significantly reduced, while the choice of transport mode was also influenced by the spread of the coronavirus, with travelers choosing to avoid public transport in favor of more private means of transport, such as their car or active mobility [4][5][6]. Additionally, there was a differentiation in mobility patterns in relation to certain characteristics, such as gender, age, or income [7].…”

Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Air Quality of the Metropolitan Region of São Paulo: Analysis Based on Satellite Data, Monitoring Stations and Records of Annual Average Daily Traffic Volumes on the Main Access Roads to the City

“…The second group of reviewed studies considers the analysis of variables determining air quality improvement during COVID-19 confinement, which is particularly relevant for a better understanding of how those variables can be crucial for air quality improvement within the context of urban regions [8,11,17,26,52,58,59]. A third group of studies focuses on analyzing air quality improvement stimulated by different transport policies at urban regions learning from the COVID-19 scenarios developed to restrict mobility, with particular interest in reducing car traffic [13,14,27,[60][61][62]. As observed in this study, there is a need to explore the effects of COVID-19 pandemic on transport use and modal shift since, several empirical analysis has been previously conducted (Table 6).…”