A Transition of Shared Mobility in Metro Cities—A Challenge Post-Lockdown Covid-19

Abstract

This chapter is written for the welfare of the society, to question and enlighten on effects of the increment or decrement in the percentage of quality of air causing pollution due to the rise in the traffic post-lockdown due to Covid-19 in metro cities, specifically in Delhi. In this chapter, we address the question about people’s preference of moving in the shared taxis to their workplaces or their reluctance travelling in shared vehicle because of the fear of getting infected. The sensitivity of the situation will compel the people to move in a single-occupied vehicle (SOV). The rise in the number of vehicles on the roads will result in traffic jams, and different kinds of pollutions where people battling with the pandemic will inevitably get exposed to other health-related issues. We use a Bureau of Public Roads (BPR) model to combat this issue endangering the environment and public health. We exploit the BPR function to relate average travel time to the estimated number of commuters travelling by car. We collect mode share data from the NITI Ayog, the State Resource Centre and other authentic sources, which gives unique figures of the impact of shared mobility in India and how, in its absence, various sectors will get affected. Using the given data and the BPR, we evaluate increased vehicle volumes on the road if different portions of transit and carpool users switch to single-occupancy vehicles and its effect on multiple other factors. Based on the study of densely populated city, Delhi, we predict that cities with significant transit ridership are at risk for extreme traffic and pollution unless transit systems can resume safe with effective protocols.