DRIVING MOBILITY FORWARD The public health crisis brought upon by the COVID-19 pandemic has intensified the focus on safe, sustainable and accessible mobility and tourism. FIA Secretary General for Mobility ad interim Onika Miller has been tasked with guiding FIA Member Organisations through the uncertainty of these challenging times.
What impact did COVID-19 have on Mobility and Clubs activities worldwide? Since the COVID-19 outbreak in early 2020, the various waves have affected all FIA Clubs with varying degrees of intensity and at different times, depending on their size, mobility services mix and location. Mobility itself has been impacted by the pandemic, with the livelihoods and travel habits of more than 80 million road users being interrupted in an unprecedented way.
COVID-19 has not stopped us from connecting and learning from each other, it is just forcing us to find new ways of doing that." Onika Miller FIA Secretary General for Automobile Mobility and Tourism ad interim
We have seen significant changes to commuting patterns due to social distancing measures including remote working and home schooling. These changes are evident in the general reduction in the frequency and usage across all modes of transport whether by trains, metros, buses, or taxis in cities around the world. Reduced demand also affected micro-mobility and car-pooling services. The general shift from shared mobility and public transit modes toward car usage and cycling reflects consumers’ paramount concern for safety and to reduce their risk of infection. This is borne out by increased usage of individual mobility modes especially private vehicles, bicycles, and pedestrian activity.
As our ‘normal’ ways to connect physically were disrupted, we had to find new ways to network and engage, relying on virtual meetings, greater use of technology and temporarily foregoing physical gatherings and in-person interactions. Our accelerated digital immersion has translated into new, more efficient ways of learning and collaboration. Last year we strengthened our engagement with FIA Clubs and provided outreach through the ‘Stay Tuned’ series. In lieu of our traditional on-site FIA University Programmes, we launched an extensive online digital learning offer through Coursera. This world-class digital learning platform provided FIA Clubs with online learning opportunities to build critical job-relevant skills for their teams, develop their skill proficiency and achieve mastery. This year, in response to the strong demand, we are pleased to offer an expanded catalogue of Coursera courses, providing even greater flexibility, access to more classes from top universities, with more content, for more participants.