University of California Institute of Transportation Studies

The COVID-19 pandemic has had dramatic impacts on transportation globally, reducing travel and deterring travelers from using shared and pooled modes such as public transit, carpooling, car-sharing, pooled ride-hailing, and micromobility. These modes are critical components of a decarbonized and equitable mobility future, but already comprised a small fraction of pre-pandemic travel in the U.S., and will likely remain further suppressed in the wake of the pandemic if people continue new mode choice habits. Those who do continue to rely on public transportation are disproportionately at risk due the degree that these modes leave them susceptible to disease transmission. For pooled and shared travel to return to and ideally surpass pre-pandemic levels, it is important to implement solutions to reduce the real and perceived risks of infectious disease transmission. This white paper presents an inventory and typology of vehicle design strategies that have been proposed or implemented with the aim of mitigating the risk of COVID-19 transmission in pooled and shared travel modes. Researchers organized these strategies into a COVID-19 Risk-mitigating Vehicle Design Typology and identified the mechanisms by which they may help diminish the risk of COVID-19 transmission. It is intended as a resource for policy-makers, transportation service operators, vehicle manufacturers, and scientists who are tasked with evaluating strategies to mitigate disease transmission risk in shared and pooled transportation services