Jason Ford

Major study to evaluate COVID-19 risk on public transport

News

A major study has been launched to understand the risks of COVID-19 transmission on public transport and to identify the best measures to control it.   

Led by Leeds University and dubbed Project TRACK (Transport Risk Assessment for Covid Knowledge), the 18-month study will conduct fieldwork on buses and trains in London, Leeds and Newcastle, including the light-rail system in Tyne and Wear.

MORE ON THE ENGINEERING RESPONSE TO COVID-19 HERE

With support from the Department for Transport and several transport organisations, TRACK will involve taking air and surface samples on parts of the transport network to measure background levels of the coronavirus.

Led by Prof. Cath Noakes, the researchers will develop detailed simulations of the way the virus could potentially spread through airflow, from touching contaminated surfaces and from being close to someone infected with the virus.

Prof. Noakes, an expert in the transmission of pathogens inside buildings and a member of SAGE, said the team will utilise CFD modelling as well as infection transmission models that use zonal flow models to simulate risk in carriages.

“The CFD modelling will be carried out using a Large Eddy Simulation finite-element CFD software Fluidity, developed at Imperial College,” she said.

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