Transport Research Centre, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid. ETSI de Caminos, Canales y Puertos. Avenida del Profesor Aranguren, 3, 28040, Madrid, Spain
Dr. Juan Gómez
Transport Research Centre, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid. ETSI de Caminos, Canales y Puertos. Avenida del Profesor Aranguren, 3, 28040, Madrid, Spain
Background: The COVID-19 crisis has meant a significant change in the lifestyle of millions of people worldwide. With a lockdown that lasted almost three months and an impulse to new normality, transport demand has suffered a considerable impact in the Spanish case. It is mandatory to explore the effect of the pandemic on changes in travel behaviour in post-COVID-19 times. Methodology: A nationwide survey was carried out during the lockdown in Spring 2020 to overview the recent changes. The survey collected both stated preferences (socio-demographic characteristics and mobility-related attributes), and revealed preferences (individuals’ habits, especially in the frequency of the trips according to the trip purpose, and opinions regarding the willingness and acceptability of these changes, and which actors would have to drive them, and how) of individuals. This paper aims to study and understand the willingness to adopt a set of measures to improve the safety conditions of public transport and shared mobility services against possible contagion from COVID-19 and the willingness to pay for them. Results: The results obtained show that some measures, such as the increase of supply and vehicle disinfection, result in a greater willingness to use public transport in post-COVID-19 times. Similarly, the provision of covers for handlebars and steering wheels also significantly increases individuals’ willingness to use sharing services. However, respondents expect that these measures and improvements would be implemented but maintaining the same pre-COVID-19 prices. The results of this research might help operators deploy strategies to adopt their services and retain users.
Marketing decisions and strategic planning of tourism provisions require improving the knowledge of factors affecting tourism demand, as well as making better forecasts of tourism flows in the short and long-term. In this respect, approaching how holidaymakers select their holiday destinations and investigating which factors determine their choices emerge as a key challenge. The aim of this paper is to analyze the role of High Speed Rail systems on destination choice, specifically on urban tourism destinations. To that end, a quantitative analysis is carried out through logistic regression models aimed at analyzing how different explanatory variables affect tourists' choice of a destination. A Revealed Preference survey was conducted in June 2013 in Madrid, where tourists were interviewed close to the most attractive tourist sites. Preliminary results show that the Spanish High Speed Rail system seems to have a significant effect on the tourists' choice to visit other cities close to Madrid, but the choice of Madrid as a tourist destination is not influenced by the presence of High Speed Rail. Indeed other factors play a significant role