Transport in the Aftermath of COVID-19: Lessons Learned and Future Directions

This paper is a review of the impact on transport in the Asian region where enforced lockdowns and transport reductions have come with real human costs in the areas of economic development and access to jobs, society and services from various perspectives including urban planning and transport, economy, GHG and air pollutant emissions and gender as some of the areas of focus in the Sustainable Development Goals. Transportation systems with a high level of planning, flexible modes of transport and good communication with the public have proved more resilient than others. Furthermore, digital infrastructure has proven to be a key transport solution through this crisis. Data collection and real-time analysis have proven that their time has come to be effective in urban planning and transport management. Digital infrastructure is also driving online shopping and urban delivery services that allow people seeking to be socially distant to access daily necessities in a fast and relatively inexpensive manner. Making use of new global data sets and computing techniques can help cities and countries to plan better. Developing countries will need to improve their ability to gather relevant data from public and private sources and furthermore use the data to achieve more resilient, sustainable transportation. Achieving Sustainable Development Goals will require a reprioritization of funding and efforts to ensure that countries are building optimized infrastructure that provide transport and mobility services with minimal financial burdens including new leapfrog transit systems.