Public Mobility and Commuter Behaviour Dynamics in the Spread and Control of COVID 19 in Kenya

Commuter behaviour and the general operations of the transport system have emerged as critical but weak link in the promotion and management of COVID-19 containment interventions in Kenya. There has been little effort in understanding how the transport systems works during such a crisis or how its infrastructure affects human behaviour and disease transmission in the context of pandemics. Furthermore, there is little research data and evidence on the dynamics of commuter behaviour-public transport-public health nexus, especially that relating to prevention and control of pandemics. There is critical need for scientific evidence, and information on how the behaviour of the elements of the transport system such as commuter behaviour, spatial configuration and related actor networks and relations affect the spread and control efforts of the pandemic. The two-year study employs the actor-network perspective to problematize the transportpublic health interactions by examining the role of commuter behaviour in spreading or controlling epidemics in Africa. It will explore how the different elements of the transport system interact to facilitate human movements in ways that generate or ameliorate the risk of viral spread and infection generally and COVID-19 specifically. Thus, it will identify, and map out real and potential threats, risks and opportunities carried by the transport system, the constitutive relations between its key components and its interactions with other systems in the country, especially public health and public administration. At a conceptual level, through the human element (commuter behaviour), the study will examine the critical interdependencies that the pandemic has brought to the fore which go beyond epidemiological models and must be addressed for effective interventions. Develop a comprehensive research report and policy briefs detailing the sociobehavioural determinants of compliance and adherence to the COVID-19 infection prevention and response public health guidelines among public transport commuters.  Recommend evidence-based behaviour change messaging and communication strategies promoting compliance and adherence to public health guidelines for COVID-19 in humanitarian setting including developing a detailed intervention operational manual, a training curriculum; community sessions facilitation guides and evaluation toolkit;  Produce quality peer-reviewed publications and knowledge products on contextual dynamics and sociology of COVID-19 individual, community and public health response and resilience  Develop a network of trained pioneer community participatory researchers who can be incorporated into the public health COVID-19 surveillance and infection prevention promotion ecosystem