Effects of COVID-19 on rail passengers' crowding perceptions

Understanding changes in travel behavior during the spread of pandemic diseases such as COVID-19 is important to develop a resilient transportation system. Since one of the most important ways to prevent the spread of this virus is to keep a safe distance from other people (i.e. social distancing), it has implications for the operations of public transportation as compared to other modes of transportation due to the confinement of a large number of passengers in enclosed space. This study investigated the effect of the spread of COVID-19 on crowding perception and crowding disutility in metro rail system of Tehran. Two surveys were conducted before and during the COVID-19. The stated preference data were analyzed by mixed logit models with the lognormal distribution. Results revealed that the value of crowding increased during the pandemic. Tracking the changes of crowding perception caused by COVID-19 shows that low comfort scores were observed at crowding levels where seats were taken, and the density of standees was high (i.e. not possible to maintain social distancing). During the outbreak of COVID-19, crowding has more disutility for rail passengers and the value of having a seat while traveling increased. Understanding passengers' perceptions of crowding as examined in this study will assist transport operators, and planners maintain the critical functionality of public transport systems and manage risks of mass transportation during the pandemic and beyond.