Urban transportation is not unknown for its contradictions and controversies, not just concerning traffic pollution and noise but more crucially, the nature of traffic. Who should urban transport serve? What is its goal? This should not be a problem, but it does cause one to reflect in-depth on the issue. In the pursuit of low cost and high convenience, too many cities have gradually tilted their scales toward cars and have even lost their direction of development. Moreover, because the institutional mechanism is deeply ingrained by the "car-oriented" thinking, even if one realizes the existence of the problem and intends to make the city more "people-oriented", there will still be hesitation due to the lack of motivation and opportunity to reset the system.
An unexpected result of the COVID-19 pandemic is that it has given cities the opportunity to change. The pandemic has forced busy urban life to pause, allowing urban traffic to change passively or actively. As the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP) has concluded, urban transportation is making changes with the goal of "adaptation", "innovation" and "evolution". In this process, the "people-oriented" ideas and sustainable development concepts are gradually making their way into the urban transportation system.
In terms of "adaptation", the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on urban transportation is immense, this is especially true for public transportation. According to the estimates of the International Association of Public Transport (UITP), in 2020 alone, public transport in Europe suffered a loss of nearly EUR 40 billion. According to the assessment of the bond rating agency Moody's, the outlook for the U.S. public transportation industry in 2021 will remain negative because of the reduction in passenger flow caused by the pandemic. The normalization of the pandemic in the future may become inevitable. Under such circumstances, public transportation which is an indispensable part of the urban transportation system that has a vital function in the basic operations of the urban transportation system, also plays an indispensable role in promoting cities to be more people-oriented. This is something which needs to be constantly adjusted in the midst of normalization of the pandemic. Judging from the practices of cities in various countries in response to the reduction in passenger flow, it is noted that most cities are focusing on improving efficiency and adapting public transportation. Among them, enhancing the pertinence of public subsidies and strengthening the management of public subsidies are common methods in the process of improving the efficiency of public transportation in most cities. For example, in order to strengthen directivity, enhance the efficiency of subsidies, and to make subsidies more equitable, many cities have changed public transportation subsidies from public transportation operators to people based on the personal circumstances of individual users (age, income, etc.) and the journey conditions (i.e., time, mode of transportation, vehicle type, occupancy level, etc.), so as to implement real-time subsidies.
Regarding "innovation", the COVID-19 pandemic has inhibited people's travel needs, but this is only temporary. Cities around the world are exploring a new balance between "safety" and "freedom". In this process, some new travel modes, especially those that are "transferred through human will" are emerging. For example, Chinese cities like Nantong, Qingdao, and Xi'an are trying to introduce "demand responsive transport" (DRT) system. DRT is a new type of public transportation system that lies between conventional public buses and taxis. If conventional buses belong to a travel mode where the passengers seek for the vehicle, then DRT is a travel mode where the vehicles seek for the passengers. In the DRT system, passengers can use their mobile phones, telephones or computers to make their own non-fixed line public transportation itineraries. This mode can not only adjust the load factor and physical distance in real time so as to meet the requirements of social distancing in order to prevent the pandemic from further spreading, but it also increases the accessibility of the transportation system which makes up for the weakness of the urban transportation system, thereby helping to solve the stubborn problems in the urban transportation system.
Concerning "evolution", as the pandemic has had huge impact on urban societies and the economy, governments of various countries are actively implementing new measures and policies. This series of measures and policies are accelerating the evolution of urban transportation in a more sustainable direction. For example, in order to further stimulate urban societies as well as economic recovery, the United States and Germany have successively introduced incentive policies on the transformation of urban infrastructure to encourage environmentally friendly travel. These policies have also promoted the construction and updating of lanes, sidewalks, and electric vehicle charging infrastructures, thereby encouraging the transformation of transportation service models, and leading the development of the transportation industry towards a more people-oriented and sustainable direction. In this context, the development of autonomous driving and electrified transportation has attracted the most attention.
Automated transportation has attracted widespread attention. Waymo (Alphabet's subsidiary dedicated to the automated car market) predicts that, driven by the smart urban infrastructure, automated transportation will be deployed towards the direction of all-rounded development. In 2021, the developmental focus of automated driving transportation may shift from technology to services. For instance, Waymo and AutoX which are supported by Alibaba in Shenzhen, China, are vigorously developing a designated driving service; Nuro in California has innovatively proposed parcel delivery services in response to the pandemic. In addition, the market share of the electric vehicle industry has increased significantly. In the European Union, it has risen from 3% to 10% in just one year. It is expected that under the combined effect of standard restrictions, favorable policies, price concessions, infrastructure guarantees and other factors, the market share of electric vehicles will continue to increase in 2021. In many European cities, taking into consideration that people may be more willing to subscribe to services instead of buying physical goods in the future, the automobile subscription model may expand greatly in the times to come, allowing for new people-orientated technology to be tested without long-term commitments.
