Can continued anti-epidemic measures help post-COVID-19 public transport recovery? Evidence from Taiwan.

Introduction and objective: COVID-19 has transformed economic activities and travel behavior, especially for public transport use. When a pandemic ebbs, clarifying travel behavior changes and whether to continue public transport anti-epidemic measures is essential for a post-COVID-19 public transport renaissance. Therefore, this study investigated citizens' metro use behavior across the pre-, in-, and post-COVID-19 phases and post-COVID-19 mode choice in transit service and anti-epidemic policies. Methods: Through face-to-face interviews, 235 citizens were systematically sampled in proportion to district populations in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, as respondents to conduct analysis of variance for metro use changes and mixed logit modeling for mode choice. Results: Analysis of variance indicated an overall decrease in metro use from the pre- to in-COVID-19 phase and, for loyal-metro-user citizens, a recovery after entering the post-COVID-19 phase. Moreover, a mixed logit model illustrated that post-COVID-19 metro use was facilitated by mandatory mask wearing in the metro system, rather than transit service levels, and affected by age, number of household children, and pre-COVID-19 travel habits. Conclusions: Continuing mandatory mask wearing within public transport in an early post-pandemic time and fostering transit use habits in non-pandemic times can help recover post-COVID-19 transit ridership. Moreover, a transit use promotion scheme may not need to target loyal users with original use before and no complete suspension after COVID-19.