Adaptive measures for non-private transport to the Covid-19 Pandemic (CODAPT)

The transport sector and mobility solutions more broadly are in a transition from a private car based fossil fuel burning system, towards a less polluting future. This sustainability transition has been taking place slowly. In Norway it has its two most prominent features are the support mechanisms for electric vehicles and the zero-growth objective for urban mobility. The first, focuses on reducing GHG-emissions within the current mobility regime. The second, focuses on changing mobility behavior. The Covid-19 outbreak has come as a landscape level shock. This creates a situation that is sparsely described in academic transition literature. How does this affect the ongoing transition? We look into how the Covid-19 shock influences the mobility sector along three different paths. First, we focus on labor, where the availability of support mechanisms is different between new and established actors. Established actors mostly operate on public contracts, where income risk is minimal. The smaller and new actors on the other hand, face a massive drop in demand, while the support mechanisms have mechanisms that limit the payout to these actors, as they have a deductible and use previous years' turnover as a reference. Second, focusing on effect on the sustainability transition, the project looks at how the covid-19 outbreak changes the use and perception of new and less polluting modes of transport. Apart from the obvious, compulsory and temporary adjustment in mobility behavior, does the outbreak accelerate or disrupt the sustainability transition? Thirdly, focusing on desired mode choice, the project looks at how a change in valuation of factors such as crowding on public transport modes, affect the social cost of such services. The project will develop a tool that can help optimize the transport policy response, so that the objectives, maintaining mobility accessibility and reducing the spread of the virus, can be achieved at lowest possible social cost.