Urban Transport Policies in the Time of Pandemic, and After. An ARDUOUS Research Agenda

While the new virus spreads worldwide and vaccines are yet to come, transport policy makers face a dilemma: how mobility is going to change? The situation is not unprecedented. But, unlike in past times when medical science was at early stages and little technology was available, counteractions currently undertaken by national and supranational governments integrate highest medical knowledge and technological skills with new, fast-adaptive lifestyles and transport patterns. The paper moves from this to present some key issues, synthesized by the ARDUOUS acronym (Adjustment, Redesign, Domesticity, Unsharing, Organization, Unsustainability, Standardization), to cope with the current situation and give rise to a new approach in the future urban transport policies. The paper, after analyzing the contemporary situation and its implications, addresses each issue in terms of both current limitations and potential to improve the future transport policies. Some directions are proposed and commented, to advance and create a reference for further transport policies, within the general research goal to contribute to advance scientific knowledge in this new transportation study topic.