COVID-19 Outbreak and the Transportation Industry: Effects, Prospects and Challenges

Abstract

The transportation industry is an integral component of the economy and a common tool used for development. This is even more so in a global economy where economic opportunities have been increasingly related to the mobility of people and freight, including information and communications technologies. As such, the government and the private sector have been involved in different initiatives to develop the industry, ranging from the renewed interest in the rail system to the surge in the introduction of ride-hailing (Uber, Taxified) and delivery services. Sadly, the unprecedented impacts and disruptions caused by the outbreak of Covid-19 have posed a number of challenges on the sector. Coronavirus is an infectious disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome, SARS-COV-2. The pandemic has continued to grow with more than one hundred and seventy five countries and territories reporting cases. There are currently 3, 580, 691 global confirmed cases and 248, 532 deaths from COVID-19 outbreak as of May 04, 2020, 09: 06 GMT, and 2, 558 confirmed cases, 87 deaths and 400 recovery in Nigeria. The transportation industry is one of the most affected areas of human activity by this pandemic. By definition, Transportation is the activity of taking (movement of) goods and services or people from one place to another. This movement could be by road, water, railway or air.

Keywords: Transportation, COVID-19, economy