High Volume Transport

Vital transport research to ensure accessible, affordable and climate friendly transport for all.

Spotlight on: Crisis response

As we near the end of the HVT programme, we’ve been reflecting on the key themes of our work with stakeholders in the programme.

Here, Dr Bernard Obika, former Team Leader of HVT, shares how our work during the COVID-19 pandemic amplified the intersection between transport and health.

The COVID-19 pandemic pulled into sharp focus the challenges the transport sector was facing, especially in LMICs. It highlighted long-standing issues, such as inequalities related to gender and disabilities, the fragility of transport systems, and the urgent need to build resilience and future-proof the sector.

By the time the World Health Organisation declared pandemic status on 11th March 2020, we were already seeing chaos in the transport systems across low-income countries. India’s transport system effectively collapsed as huge numbers of migrant workers rushed to return to their home villages. Informal transport operators in South Africa used insecticides as disinfectants. Elsewhere, buses and trains were overcrowded despite the critical need for physical distancing.

We urgently convened the sector and gathered and disseminated reliable information on what worked and what didn’t to mitigate the spread of the disease. And then our open Call to Action for research dug deeper into how our sector had responded, and how we needed to learn for the future. The 20 research projects we awarded as part of HVT’s COVID-19 Response and Recovery Transport Research fund revealed the vulnerabilities in LMICs and emphasised the importance of building resilience into our transport systems.

The research clearly revealed a need for all stakeholders in the transport ecosystem to work together for a more robust sector that can mitigate and bounce back from challenges. This includes enhancing inclusivity and accessibility, increasing our understanding of the important relationship between transport and health outcomes, and tackling the climate crisis. The international transport community must deepen its support for LMICs as they transition to sustainable, safer, healthier, inclusive and low-carbon transport systems.

The pandemic also amplified the intersection between transport and health. To reduce unnecessary deaths from air pollution and the sheer number of road fatalities, we need better and wider understanding of the links between transport and health.

One of the most striking setbacks from the pandemic was how it  widened inequalities, particularly for women and people with disabilities. We must pay more attention to all vulnerable groups as part of research activities and policy action.

Looking ahead, creating a new health and transport agenda, enhancing climate action on both mitigation and adaptation and embedding inclusivity at the heart of transport policies will be essential. These priorities should shape partnerships beyond the lifecycle of the HVT programme, ensuring that transport systems in LMICs are equipped to navigate future crises.