IMPLICATIONS OF COVID-19 PANDEMIC ON ROAD TRANSPORTATION IN A DEVELOPING ECONOMY

Abstract

Road transport system is closely related to socio-economic changes in the society.  It is concerned with the mobility of people, freight and services from one point to the other. The major actors in this business are the drivers. The aim of this study was to assess the effect of COVID-19 on the economic power of both commercial and truck drivers during the pandemic. The study area was Kwara state, located in the North central part of Nigeria. The category of the drivers identified in this study were passenger bus drivers and truck drivers, this formed the sample frame for this study.

The study used a survey design method with the help of a structured questionnaire. Two hundred copies of the questionnaire were distributed to the various parks and registered terminals used for this study. One hundred and forty-two of this copies were eventually correctly filled and returned for analysis. Findings revealed that the pandemic has a significant negative impact on the economic power of commercial bus drivers at 5% significance level (β1= - 0.263, p<0.05). In the same vein, the pandemic has a significant positive impact on the economic power of truck drivers at 5% significance level (β1= 0.532, p<0.05). It is recommended that transportation policy in the case of road transport should be strengthened to ensure strict compliance by all users of the road.