Impacts of COVID-19 on Public Transport Ridership in Sweden: Analysis of Ticket Validations, Sales and Passenger Counts

Abstract

The paper analyses the impacts of COVID-19 on daily public transport ridership in Sweden during spring 2020, in particular the three most populated regions Stockholm, Västra Götaland and Skåne. The analysis is based on ticket validations, sales and passenger counts data. Public transport ridership has been hit particularly severely compared with other transport modes. Of the three regions, the decrease in ridership was the largest in Stockholm (ca 60 %) and the smallest in Västra Götaland (ca. 40 %). The reduction stems primarily from a lower number of active public transport travellers. Data from both Stockholm and Västra Götaland show that travellers switched from 30-day period tickets to single tickets and travel funds, while the use and the sales of short period tickets, used predominantly by tourists and other short-term visitors, dropped to almost zero. One-year period tickets and school tickets increased from mid-April, which could indicate that the travellers using these tickets are particularly captive to the public transport system. Comparison with data from international mobility service providers shows that proxy indicators based on human proximity to public transport stations and travel planner queries have overestimated the recovery of public transport ridership during the months following the outbreak. Collaborative effort is required to put the results in the international context.

Keywords: COVID-19, pandemic, public transport, Sweden, urban mobility, ticket validations