Adherence to social distancing and wearing of masks within public transportation during the COVID 19 pandemic

Abstract

The first two cases of COVID-19 in Ghana were recorded on March 12th 2020. As a guideline, government issued directives on physical distancing and the use of face masks to curb community spread of the disease. Given that public transport has been identified as a high-risk environment for transmission, it was of interest to ascertain user and operator compliance to guidelines for public transport operations during the period, as a measure of its risk level. A roadside observer survey, of over 850 of the most popular paratransit (trotro) buses was carried out on one of the major roads in Kumasi. Compliance to the policy on physical distancing was determined using guidelines from the Ministry of Transport, while compliance to the policy on face masks was determined by the researchers themselves based on the number of commuters with/without face masks per bus. The results suggest that majority (98.0%) of buses comply with the social distancing guidelines established by the Ministry of transport, however the policy on face masks was complied with only partially in most vehicles. About 12.6% of the vehicles had fewer than three commuters without face masks, while 21.3% of buses that had fewer than 3 people with face masks. The results suggest public transport remains an area of high risk in the fight against COVID-19. It is recommended that operators are given additional directives that restrict them from allowing commuters without face masks on board their vehicles, and as well, that police enforce the policy through fines.

Impacts of COVID-19 on transportation: Summary and synthesis of interdisciplinary research

“… Romero et al (2020) studied the potential spread of the virus based on pedestrian traffic patterns within buildings. Social distancing and use of masks ( Dzisi and Dei, 2020 ) and changes in behavior ( de Haas et al, 2020 ) and implementation of quarantine, isolation and social distancing requirements ( Chen and Pan, 2020 ) affect the spread of the disease. There were also significant changes in travel mode with declines in public transit ridership in Hungary ( Bucsky, 2020 ).…”

“… Mogaji (2020) describes how government lockdown orders and movement restrictions in emerging economies with high population densities, poor transportation infrastructure and large informal economies may be largely ineffective; and reports on the impacts of the pandemic on social, economic and religious activities in Lagos, Nigeria. Social distancing, mask wearing and compliance with protective actions are also more limited in countries like Ghana ( Dzisi and Dei, 2020 ). Socioeconomic and household factors including motor vehicle or motorcycle ownership as well as the presence of virtual services such as e-commerce, home delivery, ridesharing and other technological factors affect behavior in Jakarta as in wealthier countries ( Irawan et al, 2020 ).…”

“…It will be interesting to see how much the increased telework, distance education, and online shopping continue after widespread vaccinations and eventual reductions in COVID-19 active cases. Much of this does depend on the shape and extent of the bounce-back or return to normalcy for air travel ( Sobieralski, 2020 , Monmousseau et al, 2020 ) or the cruise ship industry ( Ito, Hanaoka and Kawasaki, 2020 ) or public transit ( Abdullah et al, 2020 , Jenelius and Cebecauer, 2020 , Dzisi and Dei, 2020 ).…”

The Impact of the State of Emergency on the Supply of Services and Passenger Demand for Public Transport

“…On average, 4 people per vehicle did not wear face masks. These results indicate existence of a significant gap in implementing the policy on face masks and the need for its much more effective implementation [17].…”

“…Passengers were asked get on buses only with covered nose and mouth and to prefer cashless payment on vehicles, as it was already common in other countries around the world, e.g. in China, or in Ghana [16,17].…”