Transport in times of an epidemic: public transport measures in the Czech Republic and its regions

Abstract

In the first half of 2020, the global pandemic of the COVID-19 virus became a phenomenon affecting all spheres of human life. Measures against the spread of the virus have led to restrictions in life in public spaces and have also affected the transport sector. These impacts consisted of two types - firstly, the number of connections was reduced due to a drop in transport demand, and secondly, it was necessary to comply with hygiene measures on the part of carriers and passengers. The impacts of these measures could be monitored at all spatial levels, from global to local. This paper deals with the course of the so-called first wave of the pandemic in the Czech Republic in relation to public transport and its organization. The aim of the paper is to provide an overview of these measures in relation to general government regulations and their subsequent implementation at the national, regional (county) and local (selected large cities) level. Furthermore, the paper uses three case studies to show what changes long-distance domestic transport has undergone on selected routes. There was a significant reduction in the number of long-distance connections, some lines were not operated at all, and of course, all cross-border connections were canceled. The paper covers the period from the turn of February and March 2020, when the measures began to take effect, to the end of May 2020, when almost all the adopted measures were gradually relaxed. The paper concludes with a summary of the basic features of the organization of transport during the validity of the special measures, as well as areas where significant changes took place and whose consequences may persist after the pandemic subsides.

Travel behaviour changes during the pandemic: Prague-Pilsen rail case study

“…Bus services were cancelled more frequently than rail services for various reasons. These reasons are explained in more detail by Vrána et al (2021). Most importantly there is an ambivalence between private and public transport companies.…”

“…The Centres for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines recommend certain behaviours when using public transportation, such as hand hygiene, avoiding touching surfaces, and social (physical) distancing (CDC, 2020). Vrána et al (2021) identified 30 measures taken on public transportation in the Czech Republic. Some of the measures were related to physical prevention of virus spread (e.g.…”

“…Governments had to adopt a wide range of measures to control the spread of the disease and "flatten" the incidence curve (Awad-Núñez, 2021;Vrána et al, 2021). Many of these measures affected patterns of daily mobility.…”

Una mirada al transporte público en tiempos de pandemia: revisión sistemática

“…Con respecto a la frecuencia de viajes y su relación con el transporte público observamos que en la gran mayoría de los estudios tiene una gran representatividad y se presentó de manera general a nivel mundial, teniendo diversas causas, como la que encontramos en el estudio realizado en república checa por Vrana et al (2021) donde la principal razón en la reducción de la demanda del transporte público fue que el usuario prefirió el trabajo desde casa, la enseñanza presencial fue abolido, los servicios eran limitados y se animaba a los ciudadanos a no salir a menos que absolutamente necesario, la reducción de la demanda también podría estar relacionada con el miedo a infección, ya que el transporte público es utilizado por más personas que el transporte individual y es más arriesgado, mientras en Lahore, Pakistán el estudio de Abdullah M,. et al (2021).…”