TUMANGAN, Ma. Estela Leonor Angela, P.

CE – 2 / 2019152008
CE122-2 / A26
MODULE 1: PROJECT 1
A. Motorized Transportation
• Motorized transportation is the term for transporting goods, cargo, and
people using a motorized vehicle which is self-propelled and commonly
wheeled. It does not operate on rails rather it operates on roads. Such
vehicles use a motor or an engine to work. Internal-combustion engines are
commonly used for such vehicles. Examples are buses, SUVs, sedans,
vans and mini-vans, and also motorcycles and electric-powered bicycles.

I. Qualitative Impact of COVID-19

• The qualitative impact of the pandemic in motorized transportation is
mild compared to other modes of transportation. In general, majority
of the people in the world preferred to stay indoors rather than go out
which resulted to a largely diminished use of transportation
especially in the first half of the pandemic. The data below was
collected from all over the world with 1,203 responses and
approximately 70% of the responses were people from South and
South-East Asia.
 II. Quantitative Impact of COVID-19
• The number of primary outdoor trips were also significantly reduced
due to the pandemic. This can be shown by the data below where a
trip was defined as a one-way journey from an origin to a destination.
For example, a one-way journey from home to the office was counted
as one trip and the one-way journey from office to home was counted
as another trip. The image below compares the number of primary
trips (weekly trips) before and during COVID-19. It can be
understood that the number of trips remarkably reduced during the
pandemic as expected. The respondents were a total of 1,203 people
as well. Data below explains that most of the respondents (65%)
undertook 0–2 trips per week for the primary purpose of traveling
during COVID-19. Therefore, the impact of COVID-19 on motorized
transport is negative although it did not make a huge difference at
all.

III. Effect to traffic congestion

• The effect of motorized transportation to traffic congestion is
tantamount. Motorized transports are
commonly used in transporting people and
goods across the nation and even across
the whole world thus the traffic itself is
composed of motorized vehicles. The
picture beside is an example of traffic
congestion in a highway interstate in USA.
B. Non-motorized Transportation
• Non-motorized transportation
(also known as Active Transportation
or Human Powered Transportation)
includes cycling and walking. It also
includes small-wheeled transport that
are human powered such as
skateboards, rollerskates, push-
scooters, and handcarts. The
difference between the two modes is
that this particular transportation never
used a motor to work.

I. Qualitative Impact of COVID-19

• According to an article from TRB Weekly, non-motorized
transportation is a healthy, low-impact physical exercise that can
reduce the risk of health problems associated with a sedentary
lifestyle and can be enjoyed by people of different socioeconomic
backgrounds. Since the COVID-19 pandemic hit, more Americans
chose to bicycle and walk as a safer transportation mode to reduce
exposure to the virus by maintaining social distancing.
• The El Paso MPO reports that cities like Guadalajara and Mexico
City observed significant increases in active transportation users
both during and after the lockdown period. Like other cities across
the USA, El Paso implemented a contingency plan by converting the
 traffic lanes to dedicated bike lanes in order to meet the increasing
demand. The blue highlight in the data below represents the increase
of walking and cycling usage in the indicated states of America
during the pandemic.
II. Quantitative Impact of COVID-19
• According to Zhang however, the COVID-19 lockdown has led to an
increase in walking and cycling activities in certain parts of the USA.
While some parts of
USA experienced
negative impacts and
a handful of parts in
the USA experienced
none of non-motorized
transportation. A
different article
believes that the
reason for such
decrease is due to the
health risk brought by
the pandemic as well.
• Statistically speaking, the decrease in walking and cycling activities
was largely observed in high populated cities in the USA. The data
below shows the decrease of non-motorized transport in blue
highlights. Furthermore, major cities like Seattle and Washington
D.C has special cases of non-motorized activities. It is believed that
this is due to the restrictions that high population states implemented
to protect the people from COVID-19. All in all, the impact of COVID-
19 on non-motorized transportation are both negative and positive.
 III. Effect of non-motorized transportation to traffic congestion
• Non-motorized transportation is considered as a sustainable
transport method and is safe, comfortable, and efficient in terms of
economic and energy consumption and minimize environmental
pollution. The use of non-motorized transportation such as cycling,
and walking is not only to reduce carbon but also healthy lifestyle and
a physical activity. However, it does not have a major impact on
traffic congestion. It only contributes to congestion because of the
amount of transport vehicle on the road especially if the road does
not have proper bike lane or sidewalk.
C. Private Transportation
• Private transportation is the personal or individual use
of transportation which are not available for use by the general public,
where essentially the user can decide freely on the time and route of transit.
Vehicles used are private car, company car, bicycle, dicycle, self-balancing
scooter, motorcycle, scooter, aircraft, boat, snowmobile, carriage, horse,
etc., or recreational equipment such as roller skates, inline skates, sailboat,
sailplane, skateboard etc.

I. Qualitative Impact of COVID-19

• The impact of COVID-19 on private transportation is that majority of
the people prefer to use private transport instead of public transport
 due to the health risks that is caused by the pandemic. In the study
conducted with 1,203 respondents. It was observed that majority of
respondents (36%) declared that they were using public transport for
their primary travel purposes before COVID-19. The use of private
cars increased from 32% before COVID-19 to 39% during COVID-
19. In general, people tend to avoid public transport during
pandemics. On the other hand, public transport operations are
suspended by authorities as a measure to control the spread of the
viruses.

II. Quantitative Impact of COVID-19

• As can be understood from the data below, there was a significant
shift from public transport to private transport and non-motorized
modes. However, the modal shift from private transport to non-
motorized modes
and from public
transport to
paratransit was not
significant. There
was a significant
mode shift from
paratransit to
private transport
and non-motorized
modes as well.
 III. Effect of Private transportation to traffic congestion
• Private transportation is perhaps one of the most commonly used
transportation in urban areas and it is widely the cause of heavy
traffic congestion according to Anthony Downs, a former writer from
Brookings Expert. In the United States, the vast majority of people
seeking to move during rush hours use private automotive vehicles,
for two reasons. One is that most Americans reside in low-density
areas that public transit cannot efficiently serve. The second is that
privately owned vehicles are more comfortable, faster, more private,
more convenient in trip timing, and more flexible for doing multiple
tasks on one trip than almost any form of public transit.
D. Public Transportation
• Public transportation is a system of transport for passengers by
group travel systems available for use by the general public unlike
private transport, typically managed on a schedule, operated on
established routes, and that charge a posted fee for each trip. It
includes a variety of transit options such as buses, light rail, and
subways. These systems are available to the general public, may
require a fare, and run at scheduled times. The purpose of
introducing or expanding public transportation is to increase access
to and use of public transit while, at the same time, reducing motor
vehicle miles driven and traffic congestion.
I. Qualitative Impact of COVID-19
• Up to one-third of people in
some cities have stopped using
public transport because of the
COVID-19 pandemic. Whether
they’ll ever get back on board is
impossible to predict, but
according to research into the
travel habits of people in 104 cities
across 28 countries, lockdowns,
the rise of remote working, and
stay-home orders have all meant a
reduction in the volume of people
commuting. In the Greek city of
Thessaloniki, 34.3% of people no
longer use public transport
because of the pandemic.
Additionally, 45% said their use of
public transport has reduced.
II. Quantitative Impact of COVID-19
• Visitors to all public transit locations – such as bus services,
terminals, and waiting areas – have fallen by as much as 80% across
IGC countries since early March 2020. Many operators have had no
choice but to scale back or completely shut down less viable routes,
while others are passing their costs onto consumers.

• The COVID-19 pandemic and related restrictions led to major

transit demand decline for many public transit systems in the United
States. According to an article, transit is an essential service. Cities
with more essential
workers and a more
vulnerable population tend
to maintain higher transit
demand levels during
COVID-19. This moreover
suggests the necessity of
the transit system during a
pandemic when transit
systems lose a great deal
of discretionary demand.
III. Effect of public transportation on traffic congestion
• Congestion happens when the demand for a roadway is higher
than its available capacity at a given point in time. Traffic
congestion may be one byproduct of a thriving economy where
people and goods are traveling throughout the region at certain
times during the day.
• When a strike shut down L.A.’s transit system, highway congestion
soared, showing that the availability of such options significantly
reduces traffic congestion, increasing regional productivity and
economic output. Researchers examined traffic data over a 28-
week period that included the MTA strike. They focused on
weekday morning and afternoon rush hours, and measured traffic
delay on Los Angeles freeways before, during, and after the
strike. They found that average delay increased 47% during the
strike. For freeways that ran parallel to transit lines, average delay
increased even more, to between 53% and 90%.

• Public transit investment has wide-ranging economic benefits, not

only for those who ride it, but also for those who continue to drive.
By giving some commuters an alternative to congestion, transit
allows drivers to reach their destinations more quickly, saving time
and increasing productivity. The researchers note that these
benefits typically outweigh the cost of building transit by a
significant margin.
REFERENCES:
➢ Online TDM Encyclopedia - Nonmotorized Transport Planning (vtpi.org)
➢ Exploring the impacts of COVID-19 on travel behavior and mode
preferences - ScienceDirect
➢ Non-motorized Modes of Transport | SpringerLink
➢ (PDF) Quantifying the Impact of COVID-19 on Non-Motorized
Transportation: A Bayesian Structural Time Series Model
(researchgate.net)
➢ Impacts of COVID-19 Induced Active Transportation Demand on the Built
Environment and Public Health (trb.org)
➢ What is Private Transport | IGI Global (igi-global.com)
➢ The Use of Non-Motorized For Sustainable Transportation in Malaysia
(sciencedirectassets.com)
➢ Traffic: Why It’s Getting Worse, What Government Can Do (brookings.edu)
➢ Public Transportation System: Introduction or Expansion | Health Impact in
5 Years | Health System Transformation | AD for Policy | CDC
➢ This is how the pandemic has affected public transport use | World
Economic Forum (weforum.org)
➢ Impact of COVID-19 on public transport - IGC (theigc.org)
➢ The impacts of COVID-19 pandemic on public transit demand in the United
States (plos.org)