Brail: Commuting after coronavirus

Shauna Brail on St. George Street, University of Toronto
Professor Shauna Brail

UTTRI associated faculty Professor Shauna Brail was interviewed in “How will commuting change after coronavirus? Experts weigh in,” Global News, June 24, 2020.

Quoting recent survey results, the article states that there will be a 9% increase in working from home after the pandemic.

In the discussion around commuting, Brail says “the pandemic has already had ‘dramatic and devastating’ effects on mobility and the ways in which people move from place to place” but cautions that attitudes and behaviours of commuters may shift rapidly.

According to Brail, Canadian transit agencies have reported revenue losses of up to 85% due to reduced ridership during the pandemic. This in turn negatively affects municipal budgets.

Fear of COVID-19 infection has reduced demand for public transit, while at the same time increased car sales and commuting by car.

Brail goes on to say that changes in travel behaviour will affect transportation planning:

If commuting patterns do continue to shift considerably … changes could be made to transportation planning.

I think we need to be tracking travel behaviour and travel patterns very carefully.   – Professor Shauna Brail

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