EMILIA - Development of a pandemic-resistant public transport system

BACKGROUND AND GOAL

The COVID-19 pandemic has drastically reduced the use of public transport. In Germany, passenger numbers halved in the second quarter of 2020 compared to the previous year. With the 9-euro ticket, the numbers in 2023 could gradually reach the level of 2019. Public transport is crucial for social participation as well as for environmental and climate protection, but the physical proximity of passengers poses a high risk of spreading infectious diseases. The EMILIA project has therefore developed recommendations for action to minimize health risks and increase passenger confidence.

The Federal Ministry for Digital and Transport (BMDV) funded the project with 1.3 million euros and enabled innovative real-world laboratories and an extensive panel survey to be carried out, among other things.

METHODICAL APPROACH

In the six fields of action "Planning and operation", "Vehicle design", "Sales and information", "Financing and tariffs", "Communication" and "Laws and regulations", existing measures were researched, newly developed and tested for their effectiveness. The development and evaluation of the measures is based on various sources of knowledge, including a comprehensive literature review, the integration of expert knowledge, the results of a panel survey conducted as part of the project, the implications of a specially developed infection model and the findings from real-world laboratories. Throughout the 3.5 years of the project, the focus was on the fundamental question: How can public transport be operated effectively and safely in a pandemic situation?

RESULT

As a result of the research project, an action guideline for a pandemic-resistant design of public transport was developed, which includes both preventive and reactive strategies and measures. In addition, an infection calculator for estimating the risk of infection in public transport and an interactive tool for viewing the results of the panel survey conducted in the project were also developed. All three products can be accessed via the links below.