The New Agenda of Urban Transportation: Changing Travel Trends, Urban Mobility and COVID

Kentsel Ulaşımın Yeni Gündemi

Abstract

For people living in cities; urban transport is a natural part of daily life. In the 20th century, an ordinary citizen can probably reach the place, she/he wants to go, with the help of a motor vehicle. Providing the necessary infrastructure for vehicles in cities has facilitated their usage. The widespread transportation vehicles, on the other hand, triggered the demand for travel and caused an increase in freight and passenger mobility. However, after a short period of time, the economic and environmental costs of transportation ceased to be bearable and the quality of life in cities decreased dramatically. Thus, cities and transportation plans focused on motor vehicles began to be questioned. In this way, the search for more sustainable transportation systems has begun. The new transportation paradigm, which considers accessibility, pedestrian, micro-mobility vehicles, has started to be mentioned more and more. First of all, this study started with a conceptual comparison of the existing transportation system and the new transportation paradigm that emerged with the reasons outlined above. The existence of the structure, human and traffic density in the cities enabled to emerge the solution from the cities. As cities have difficulty in carrying the burden of automobiles, the basic paradigm in the understanding transportation is questioned and new ideas come to the fore. Environmental pollution, high costs of time and fossil fuels; force citizens to produce healthier solutions in cities. The traditional transportation policies that are demand-oriented and based on the mobility of vehicles from one place to another has been out dated. This understanding has left its place to modern transportation policies. The changes in travel trends are discussed together with their reasons. Determining the trends in today’s freight and passenger transportation is important in terms of directing the future transportation system. The factors that change these trends are paraphrased under four headings: economic, social, technological and environmental. Finally, the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on current trends and transportation stakeholders are emphasized. Local and global measures taken during the global pandemic caused transportation to be completely stopped or slowed down in certain periods. In fact, the pandemic did not only lead to change in passenger behaviors and demands, but also affected all stakeholders of transportation. In the article, its impacts on economic sectors, its impacts on individuals receiving transportation services and its impacts on the public sector are explained with examples. This study has been prepared to point out these issues that constitute the agenda of urban transportation. The article was created with a qualitative research method and was constructed based on secondary data searching. The analysis and policy reports of international institutions on a global scale were examined, and the issues on the agenda in academic studies were discussed. As a result, new travel behaviors are both findings and consequences to consider. The restructuring process of transportation, which has accelerated due to the COVID-19 pandemic, describes the developments that will affect cities the most in the recent period. New mobility behaviors make it necessary for city planners to review existing transport practices. Consequently new travel behaviors are both findings and consequences to be considered. The restructuring process, which has to accelerate due to the COVID-19 pandemic in transportation, describes the developments that will affect the cities the most in the recent period. New mobility behaviors make it necessary for city planners to review existing transportation practices. The existing legal/administrative structure needs to be restructured. Renewed structure of transport system needs to gain the competence to meet the requirements.