Not all journeys have declined—what has collapsed is rush-hour commuting
Save time by listening to our audio articles as you multitaskNone of it seems to be working. The subway is only two-thirds as busy as it was before covid-19. Auckland’s bus system was half as busy in April as it was three years earlier. Despite fears of “carmageddon”, people have not swappedAlthough travel is likely to recover a little further, a return to the pre-pandemic pattern seems implausible. One clue is that not all journeys have declined.
Now that people travel less predictably, there is a stronger case for innovations such as on-demand buses and “mobility as a service”, which weaves together public transport and personal modes such as taxis and hired bikes. These make better use of the existing infrastructure, and come closer to the convenience of cars. Antwerp, Genoa and Helsinki lead in this area. British cities need to do something more basic, by integrating their public-transport networks.
Countries should not down tools on public-transport projects. Their populations are growing, and they will need to cut congestion and carbon emissions. But instead of building more radii, along the lines of London’s new Elizabeth line or the tunnel being dug at huge expense under the East river in New York, they should make it easier to travel around cities, or from one satellite town to another.
For the time being, governments will have to shell out to keep public-transport systems from collapsing. But another source of money will eventually have to be found to replace lost fare revenue. The best one is road pricing. Countries should stop holding referendums on congestion-charging schemes and get on with creating them. They would also be wise not to muddy the waters by exempting electric vehicles from the charge.
The transition from asterisks to spiderwebs will be difficult. Everybody from motorists to transport unions will complain. But at least a couple of things have become easier. Because so many people have learned to work from home, engineers should not fear to work on roads or railways between Monday and Friday, rather than disrupting a string of weekends. And any transport union that threatens to strike is welcome to try.
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