Public transit usage and air quality index during the COVID-19 lockdown

Abstract

The people suffering from coronavirus have to lead unprecedented actions including limiting travel especially using public transportation. Therefore, lockdown measures and social distancing to decelerate the distribution of the COVID-19 has become the new norm. Nevertheless, improvement in the ambient air quality of the cities globally has appeared as a key advantage of this lockdown. There is a lack of research in the field of public transportation mobility and the Air Quality Index (AQI) during the COVID-19 lockdown globally. Consequently, this research aims to examine the overall impact of the public transit usage and ambient air quality, i.e. both AQI and indicatory air pollutants, during the lockdown in 12 countries. Data collections for analysis of public transportation usage and air quality status during the lockdown and one year before this period were carried out utilizing public transportation application Moovit and World's Air Pollution. The results demonstrated that the lockdowns of 12 countries led to dramatically decreased human movements and public transit usage up to −90% until the end of March and it had no major changes until the end of May. In the case of ambient air quality, the average values of AQI in the 12 countries within lockdown 2020 for classes I(AQI:0-50), II(AQI:51-100), and III(AQI:101-150) increased by 12%, 9%, and 13% while for classes IV(AQI:151-200), V(AQI:201-300) and VI(AQI:301-greater) decreased by 10%, 27%, and 3% in comparison with the identical time throughout 2019. The results also indicate that throughout lockdown 2020, in the 12 countries, the percentages of indicatory air pollutants of PM2.5, PM10, SO 2 , CO, and NO 2 were decreased by 16%, 21%, 41%, 48%, and 35% lower than those in the same time in 2019. Mechanism analysis and comparisons highlighted that the lockdowns of 12 countries led to decreased human mobility and improvement in the AQI around the world.

COVID-19 prevention, air pollution and transportation patterns in the absence of a lockdown

“…While studies hypothesize reductions in industrial production, transportation and other human activities are responsible for the lower levels of ambient air pollution that occurred during COVID-19 lockdowns, they typically do not make a direct link to specific activities. Exceptions include Sahraei et al (2021) which shows that in 12 countries with lockdowns there was a concurrent decrease in public transit usage, and Dang and Trong (2020) , which used Google Mobility Reports to show lower mobility in locations where government policies were more stringent. Likewise, Zeng and Bao (2021) finds that much of the decrease in PM 10 , PM 2.5 and NO 2 that occurred during lockdowns was due to lower levels of human migration.…”

A brief study of public transportation and sustainable cities management during COVID-19 pandemic

“…No Brasil, o transporte público nas capitais é oferecido principalmente por linhas de ônibus e sistemas ferroviários (metrô) (SAHRAEI; KUŞKAPAN;ÇODUR, 2021). O país já experimentava grandes aglomerações no transporte público antes da pandemia e a incapacidade de suprir a demanda de modo equilibrado.…”

A quantitative, equitable framework for urban transportation electrification: Oakland, California as a mobility model of climate justice

“…Studies have shown that public transport ridership has not been shown to increase COVID-19 cases with proper precautionary measures such as social distancing, increased air circulation, mandatory face coverings [92]. However, the uneasiness of shared public spaces during the COVID-19 lockdown resulted in up to an 80-90% decrease in public transport ridership, globally, leading to significant improvements to air quality due to the reduction of public transportation operation [88,93]. The aversion to public transport during COVID-19 has resulted in the increased uptake and encouragement of outdoor, private modes of transport such as bicycling and walking [94].…”

“…Access to an affordable, personal means of transportation has implications beyond mobility, but also for safety. This has been highlighted during the COVID-19 pandemic, during which public transport ridership dramatically decreased due to the unease of traveling with strangers [88]. There is opportunity for further research on overcoming the challenges of integrating ECS to adapt to user behavior and lifestyles and on the potential for ECS to offer an equitable alternative to the high upfront cost of electric vehicle ownership.…”