We are living in unprecedented times where life seems to have gotten upside down in the past few months. Getting out of the house has become very scarce for many of us who can avoid it. In these changing times, we are coping up with this “new normal” as many call it. We hope that things get better soon, but we also know that it will not be the same as before once we start to get out of home again. In the past few months, we have learned to stay away from crowds, not to touch any suspicious surfaces like door handles or counters in open and public spaces and to keep a physical distance from people when we are outside our homes. With his newly learned behavior, it will be different when we start going back to work or other places we used to go before the lockout situation began. A big question arises now is that will we use public transport like bus, metro, and other similar shred commuting services after the lockdown? Or more of us will start using our own vehicles like cars and two-wheelers than we used to before? How about cab/ taxi services? Shared cab services etc., how comfortable will we feel to use it once these services re-start? Are we on the brink of a massive change in the user behavior patterns when it comes to commuting? What will it mean for the future of our society and the automobile industry? These are too many questions to ask and let me try to share my opinion with you on the same. We have also conducted a small twitter poll, so please participate in it and let us know your opinion too, the tweet is embedded below in this article.
Twitter Poll
Public Transport- Metro/ Bus/ Local Trains After Lockdown
At the time when we are writing this post, only buses are operational. Locals and Metro are not working across most states as the infection numbers are not going down. Buses are also operational with strict rules to avoid crowds, however it is not being followed in perfect manner at all places. It may still take some time (maybe a few weeks or a couple of months) before we can see things improving and these services opening up. Even if these services open up, people are going out only for essential work, and it is expected that people will continue to not go out for any less-than-important work. We expect to see a sharp drop in the usage of these means of transport at least for a few months after the situations get under control.
Usage of Private Vehicles after Lockdown
It is expected that more and more commuters will move to the usage of private vehicles. These will include people who were previously using public transport in order to avoid driving and also saving on commuting cost. This is likely to make the traffic situation a bit thicker than it was before. More cars and two-wheelers on road will come back to roads once the lockdown norms start easing with time. This is also likely to boost demand for new two-wheelers and cars which can be good for the Indian automobile industry, but a big hurdle to this new demand is the slowdown in the economic activity and job losses that have happened because of the dent in the economy. This may also give a large boost to the used cars and two wheeler industry as they prove to be much more economical to buying a new car/ bike.
Cabs and Shared Cab Services
We believe these services will be less affected compared to the public transport, but will still not go back to the pre-lockdown times as people will still be skeptical of the idea of commuting in a vehicle which is being used by a large number of people before them. We expect a tough road ahead for at least sometime after the lockdown for these services.
The Road Ahead
This global situation has taught us new ways to work and live. We have learned to manage work from homes wherever it can be done. We have learned to do more meetings via video or phone calls compared to in-person meetings. This not only saves commuting time but also is good for the environment as less commuting means fewer carbon emissions for the environment. Although this can not go on forever, we believe, that some of these behavioral changes will stay (at least partly) wherein people will try to commute less and get more done by using digital resources like video-meetings and ways to get things done online.
Those who love to ride or drive will still do it for their pleasure, but work commutes and any avoidable commutes may stay scarce in the near future. What are your thoughts? Share with us on our social media pages. Share this post with your friends and family if you like this viewpoint. Stay safe and practice social distancing.
