The global impact of the corona virus on transportation systems has resulted in reduced ridership and massive revenue losses since March of this year. In Madrid, Spain, for example, public transport usage was 67% lower on March 19 (with corona) than January 15 (pre-corona). The same applies to for example Paris, France (-55%) and Seattle, US (-53%). Cordence Worldwide member firms are helping organizations around the world navigate the crisis. In early August, we coordinated a successful International Peer Roundtable of leaders from transportation organizations to discuss asset management impacts on their respective systems. Participants included the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) in New York, representatives from the City of Amsterdam, Banedanmark in Copenhagen, Denmark, and the Port of Gothenburg, in Sweden. The facilitated discussion triggered robust discussions on current challenges, adaptive strategies, solutions, and opportunities.
As a result of the corona virus, participants pointed to changes in the way maintenance is done. In a situation where people are working from home and limiting human contact, new initiatives emerged in which tools such as iPads or drones are increasingly used for maintenance activities (e.g. inspections). The participants recognized a global shift from a traditional infrastructure organization into a more data-driven organization, to take advantage of new technologies such as drones and sensors.
