Impact of COVID-19 on Transportation Industry: Comparative Analysis of Road, Air, and Rail Transportation Modes

The outcome of novel coronavirus (COVID-19) has a profound impact on all industries including the transportation sector. Transportation industry which is deemed as an essential activity should continue to operate through the lockdowns while making it certain to exercise social distancing. Although some researchers, Departments of Transportation (DOT), Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), and private organizations have provided vital information and guidelines to mitigate the unintended consequences of the pandemic, the impacts of COVID-19 on various types of transportation modes have been rarely analyzed and compared. This paper gives rich information into the system and cognizance of the effect of COVID-19 and the developments that the transportation area has needed to embrace so as to cling to the lockdown rules while being operational and productive. The study contributes towards advising policymakers, stakeholders, and agencies on certain insights gained from the management of the COVID-19 from a transportation area point of view. Moreover, four key regulations are concluded for leaders inside the transportation framework business to reevaluate and act to manage the pandemic emergency. This research analyzes how each sector has addressed the short-term and long-term effects of the pandemic and results of the study concluded that the survival of transportation industry is not solely reliant on the duration of the COVID-19 pandemic but on the resilience adapted by the different sectors to cope up with the situation. The findings also indicate that transportation departments should include a management plan to reduce the aftermaths of the pandemic and use the lockdown as an opportunity to address surging maintenance backlogs, improve technology, and safeguard the workforce.