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. 2022 Mar:13:100548.
doi: 10.1016/j.trip.2022.100548. Epub 2022 Jan 20.

Risk perceptions of COVID-19 transmission in different travel modes

Niaz Mahmud Zafri  1 , Asif Khan  1 , Shaila Jamal  2 , Bhuiyan Monwar Alam  3
Affiliations

Risk perceptions of COVID-19 transmission in different travel modes

Niaz Mahmud Zafri et al. Transp Res Interdiscip Perspect. 2022 Mar.

Abstract

COVID-19 pandemic has caused adverse impacts on different aspects of life around the globe, including travelers' mode choice behavior. To make their travel safe, transportation planners and policymakers need to understand people's perceptions of the risk of COVID-19 transmission in different travel modes. This study aimed to estimate mode-wise perceived risk of viral transmission and identify the factors that influenced the perceived risk in Bangladesh. The study used a five-point Likert scale to measure the perceived risk of COVID-19 transmission in each travel mode. Using ordinal logistic regression models, the study explored the factors that influenced the perceived risk of COVID-19 transmission in different travel modes. The study found that people perceived a very high risk of viral transmission in public transport (bus), moderate risk in shared modes (rickshaw, auto-rickshaw, ridesharing), and very low risk in private modes (private car, motorcycle/scooter, walking, cycling). Such high-risk perception of viral transmission in public transport and shared modes might lead to a modal shift to private modes, which would worsen urban transport problems and undermine sustainable transportation goals. The study also found that socio-economic factors (gender, age, income) significantly influenced perceived risks in all travel modes. Contrarily, psychological factors (worry, care, and trust) were significant only for public and shared modes, but not for private modes. Lastly, travel behavior-related factors influenced perceived risk in shared and private modes.

Keywords: COVID-19; Modal shift; Psychology; Risk perception; Travel mode.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Distribution of the collected sample across eight administrative divisions of Bangladesh.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Mode-wise perceived risk of COVID-19 transmission (5-point Likert scale: 1 = extremely low, 5 = extremely high).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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