Article Critique on the Impacts of COVID 19 on Public Transportation

Introduction

The Subways Seeded the Massive Coronavirus Epidemic in New York City was the tile of a
research conducted by Jeffry E. Harris from the department of economics in Massachusetts
institute of technology. The study was conducted and updated on April 24, 2020. From the
author's point of view, New York City was the epic of COVID 19 higher than any other region in
the country. According to reports from the response team, the cumulative total of infection in
New York was higher than the combined number of reports from 9 cities. Besides, the study
documents that the number of infections in this city was more elevated than cases confirmed in
the Lombardy region in Italy, the community of Madrid and the province of Tehran. Although
the study document the city's transport system, in this case, the subway system as the major
disseminator in the spread of the infection, many other factors that may have intensified the
transmission.

Summary

The author of this study used figures to show the relationship between transportation and
movement in the subway and the high number of infection in New York City. He also examined
the social and demographic income status of New York residents and those of Manhattan.
These findings showed a direct relationship between the social-demographic situation and the
lowered rate of coronavirus infection in this city. The city of Manhattan was dominated by
professionals who had better job security than those in New York. Therefore, these individuals
could afford to stay at home a factor that reduced the spread of the infection. However, the
majority of those living in New York were low paid workers working in various service
deliveries. These individuals could not afford off the subway as compared to those living in
Manhattan. Therefore, the study concluded the movement at the subway was an essential
factor in the spread of COVID 19 in New York City. The subsequent decline of infection in New
York was also affiliated to reduced activities at the subway.

Critical Evaluation

The author of this study investigated the relationship between the spread of COVID 19 and
public transportation. To effectively achieve the desired results, the author first investigated
cases of infections and subway turnstile entries. Data on the turnstile entries and the spread of
the infection were presented in tables and figures. Findings from the graph show that there is a
rapid increase in the number of coronavirus cases during the first half of the month. In this city,
there were about 4600 turnstiles every day during the early 14 days. The high number of
transits led to the increased spread of the infection across the city. The approach by the author
has successfully presented one of the main reasons for the increased proliferation of COVID 19
across New York City. However, this approach has failed to provide relevant information on the
role of other transportation services in the spread of COVID 19. There are many types of
transport in New York City. According to sources from New York, of all commuters majority use
subways while others either drive alone or by bus. A few walk to work while others commute
by rail, taxi, bicycle, and felly. These models of transport are also essential in transmission of
COVID 19 in New York City. Though the author successfully presents transmission of the
infection through the subway, he fails to presents the effects of other models of transport in
the spread of coronavirus in the first two weeks.

The study also investigated the effects of subway ridership on the lowered rate of infection in
Manhattan. From the study findings, some of the region's boroughs such as Manhattan
experienced declined ridership in the third and fourth week of March. The direct outcome was
declined rate of infection in this city, which was represented in a table. Additionally, the study
findings illustrated that social demographic factors influenced the spread of COVID 19.
According to the author, the majority of Manhattan individuals were professionals with well-
paying jobs as compared to other boroughs. Therefore, these individuals could stay at home
and prevent the spread of infection. However, the majority of these in New York City were from
lower social class working as cleaners and clerks. Therefore, these individuals had to use the
subway for their daily routine to work. According to COVID 19 findings, social distancing is one
of the most critical factors in the spread of the infection. Thus, the WHO has advised the world
to observe social distancing in the fight against the disease. The author of this study documents
that the reason for the lowered spread of infection in Manhattan was social distancing. Though
the approach by the author presents the actual effects of subway transportation and spread of
COVID 19, there are limitations to his findings. His sample size of the subway could not
generalize the impacts of transportation on the spread of COVID 19.

Conclusion

The study by Jeffrey E. Harris presents the effects of subway transportation and the severe
spread of COVID 19 in New York. The starting point of this study was the nature of the infection
and how it had spread in New York by the third week of April 2020. The author illustrates that
the city had higher infection cases than most other regions worldwide. From his study, the
author noted that transportation through the use of subway played an essential role in the
spread of infection. However, the study failed to document the effects of the models of
transport in the spread of COVID 10. However, his approach has successfully presented the
impact of public transportation on the spread of the virus.