Standard Cost of Local Public Transport in the Post-COVID-19 Era: The Italian Case

Local Public Transport (LPT) plays a key role in the economic system of any country. The Covid-19 outbreak and subsequent lockdowns led to an unprecedented economic crisis in this sector. Governments had to block all unnecessary travel and keep only essential services moving, reducing public transport services (air, train, bus, metro, etc.) by more than 90%. Despite the economic aids provided by Governments, many LPT companies are facing a crisis that they are unlikely to be able to overcome. This for two reasons: skepticism of passengers in the use of public transport, and therefore reduced revenue from ticket sales, and additional costs for the vehicles’ sanitization Focusing on the Italian case, and especially on Sicily, the paper aims to analyze the standard costs of the LPT road service and assess the cost increase in which companies have to incur in order to meet the guidelines imposed by Government and encourage citizens to use public transport. The paper relies on the results of a direct investigation on clients’ attitudes through a questionnaire submitted to a population travelling to and from the city of Enna in the centre of Sicily.