Public transit services, which provide a critical lifeline for many essential workers, were severely interrupted during the COVID-19 pandemic. As institutions gradually return to normal in-person operations, it is critical to understand how the pandemic affected essential workers' commute and what it will take to ensure the effective recovery of transit ridership and enhance the long-term resiliency and equity of public transportation systems for those who need it the most. This study used focus group discussions with essential workers who were pre-pandemic transit riders to understand how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted their commute perceptions, experiences, motives, and challenges and explore the potential changes in their travel behavior post-pandemic. We used NVivo 12 Pro to conduct a thematic analysis of the transcripted discussion data and examined patterns of commute mode change with respect to participants' attributes, including job type, home location, and gender. The results show that public transit had multiple reliability and frequency challenges during the pandemic, which resulted in most participants switching away from public transportation. With the increased availability of hybrid remote work and pandemic-related parking policies, driving emerged as a safer and more affordable commute mode for many pre-pandemic transit riders, rendering transit services less efficient for those who continued to rely on it. Planning for post-COVID resilient and reliable mobility requires a major rethinking of providing an efficient and effective transport system and a more fundamental approach to long-term public transport policy. To recover transit ridership, transit agencies need to ensure transit service availability and provide reliable transit information through smartphone apps. Similarly, transit agencies need to coordinate with other employers to provide free or heavily subsidized transit passes, to facilitate the recovery of transit demand effectively.

中文翻译：

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大流行后的交通通勤：焦点小组讨论中关于关键工作人员在 COVID-19 期间的经历的经验教训

公共交通服务为许多重要工作人员提供了重要的生命线，但在 COVID-19 大流行期间严重中断。随着各机构逐渐恢复正常的面对面运营，了解这一流行病如何影响重要工作人员的通勤以及如何确保公共交通客流量的有效恢复并增强公共交通系统的长期弹性和公平性至关重要为那些最需要它的人。本研究通过与大流行前的公共交通乘客的重要工作人员进行焦点小组讨论，了解 COVID-19 大流行如何影响他们的通勤观念、经历、动机和挑战，并探讨大流行后他们的出行行为的潜在变化。我们使用 NVivo 12 Pro 对转录的讨论数据进行主题分析，并根据参与者的属性（包括工作类型、家庭位置和性别）检查通勤模式变化的模式。结果表明，公共交通在大流行期间面临多重可靠性和频率挑战，导致大多数参与者放弃公共交通。随着混合远程工作和与大流行相关的停车政策的增加，对于许多大流行前的交通乘客来说，驾车成为一种更安全、更实惠的通勤方式，这使得那些继续依赖它的人的交通服务效率降低。规划后新冠疫情时期的弹性和可靠交通需要对提供高效和有效的交通系统进行重大重新思考，并对长期公共交通政策采取更根本的方法。为了恢复公交客流量，公交机构需要确保公交服务的可用性，并通过智能手机应用程序提供可靠的公交信息。同样，交通机构需要与其他雇主协调，提供免费或高额补贴的交通通行证，以有效促进交通需求的恢复。