Efforts are underway throughout Connecticut to ensure that local travel on buses and trains is as safe as possible. With COVID-19 now in the state, many precautions are being taken by agencies to mitigate the spread, including public transit systems.
Officials said at CT Transit and other state Department of Transportation bus lines run by the state, buses are getting daily cleaning and disinfecting. Rail services including Metro-North’s New Haven Line, the Hartford Line and Shoreline East are also receiving daily disinfecting, according to transportation officials.
Officials said the cleaning is taking place overnight when buses and rail cars return to the garage or rail yard. The focus of the cleaning will be on the equipment that passengers come into contact with each day. CT Transit has also increased the number of hand sanitizing stations for employees to use.
At this point, there have been no changes to ride schedules but transportation officials said that it is unclear if that would happen in the future.
On Tuesday afternoon, Gov. Ned Lamont and leaders from several other state and local agencies updated on the public on coronavirus mitigation in the state. Lamont also said that it appears that more people are choosing to avoid public transit.
“I know that Metro-North, for example, ridership is down maybe 25 percent,” Lamont said. “I think that's more people are telecommuting; less people are going on roads and rail to get where they want to go, and that may not be such a bad idea for now."
NBC Connecticut has reached out to both the MTA and CT Transit for more detail about how the number of passengers is being affected.
