The coronavirus pandemic is reshaping the way we move around. Will we emerge from this crisis with smarter planning? Or will it dismantle already-weakened public transportation systems?
When economies across the world shut down all at once in March, the impact on transportation systems was immediate. According to the International Energy Agency, activity on roads globally was down 50 percent compared to the 2019 average. Commercial flights were down 75 percent compared to 2019. Many cities saw a more than 90 percent drop in public transport ridership. And leading ride-sharing companies saw a drop in usage in the range of 80 to 90 percent.
Activity has since picked up, but people are still moving around a lot less. The pandemic will likely shape behavior in the long term, which will influence how we design our roads, bike lanes and public transit systems.
Our guest is on the front lines of these changes: Tiffany Chu, the CEO and co-founder of Remix. Remix works with hundreds of cities around the world to help them better plan multimodal transportation in an environmentally sound and equitable way.
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