Uptake in on-demand ride-hailing for intracity long distance trip making during COVID-19

Abstract

Changes in mobility patterns are expected during global pandemics. Despite the role of cost and travel time on mode choice, these factors may be considered secondary to perceived safety during global health crises. This study seeks to shed light on changes in public transport mode preferences during the outbreak of COVID-19. A survey involving 1100 commuters showed that there were statistically significant differences in mode preferences prior to, and during the outbreak of COVID-19 in urban Ghana. The results suggest that more people (59.0%) were willing to opt for on-demand ride-hailing during the pandemic, in comparison to the 30.0% that would have opted for it prior to the pandemic. This however came at the detriment of the most common public transport form (trotro) which experienced a decline from 64.0% to 28.6%. The gains for ride-hailing and losses for trotros were also consistent across all age groups despite cost and time being constant. The results suggest the outbreak of COVID-19 and concerns surrounding its infectious nature had implications for travel choice considerations in Ghana. The outbreak as well exposed the vulnerabilities of the transport service in light of public health shocks, although mode preference changes are not expected to last.