The online publication Smart Cities Dive recently spotlighted the research by Professor Chris Cherry and Assistant Professor Candace Brakewood that received a National Science Foundation RAPID Award for addressing COVID-19.
The main question they want to answer is whether adoption of new forms of transportation, such as bikeshares and e-scooters, could provide commuting options that would allow workers a way to get to work without putting them in the close confines of other passengers on traditional transportation methods, and whether people would even choose these alternate methods in the first place.
It will be hard to predict what will happen to micromobility or transit post-coronavirus without more data, but Cherry said the researchers may notice a ridership spike in micromobility before transit, due to the ability to maintain social distance on a scooter or a bike.
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