We recalibrated our synthetic population and MATSim-NYC (see https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0967070X20309483) to fit COVID work-from-home conditions in 2020 and used it to evaluate varying social distancing requirements from the transit service. The study showed that full reopening may result in higher traffic levels than pre-COVID setting because of adverse impact on travelers’ preference for shared use transportation modes. The study suggests more attention to be paid toward managing transit capacity, traffic in Manhattan, and micromobility provision as it will play an important role.

Funding support from C2SMART/USDOT #69A3551747124; the paper can be found here.