Mitigation and preparedness for epidemic and pandemic

Abstract

In the public transport sector, response to terrorist attacks as extreme events was much discussed prior to COVID-19, but the prearrangement of epidemic response was almost nonexistent with a few exceptions in East Asian countries. Public transport is exposed to different types of risks in epidemics, namely infection risks for passengers on board, simultaneous sickness of operational staff leading to the inability of service provision, and financial risks arising from sudden and radical decrease of passengers. Prearrangement during the normalcy would avoid public transport being marginalized and merely being a decision-taker of improvized countermeasures against infectious diseases, which are often overwhelmed by interests of nontransport sectors. Instead, prearrangement serves as a platform for stakeholder participation. Mitigation of financial risks can be made with less dependency on hypothecated taxes directly tied to economic activities such as sales tax, but also by the introduction of subscription tickets.