A Monday morning update on coronavirus-related rail news:
— Twenty-two employees of New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority have now died from the COVID-19 virus, the agency reported on Sunday. That is more deaths from the disease than have been recorded in all but six states as of Friday, according to provisional CDC figures. FoxNews.com reports that a total of 1,092 MTA workers have tested positive for the virus and 5,430 were in self-quarantine. The MTA said Saturday that it was distributing 240,000 maskes and 3.2 million gloves to its workers in an effort to protect them from the disease.
— NJ Transit will reduce service on its Hudson-Bergen Light Rail line as of today, operating trains on a weekend schedule, with 20-minute headways. The line was the last of NJ Transit’s three light rail operations still on its regular schedule. The agency is also adjusting some bus schedules to address overcrowding, NorthJersey.com reports, and is urging passengers to follow the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommendation to wear a face covering.
— Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit has made another set of service cuts. Effective today, the 45-mile system between Larkspur and Santa Rosa will offer 16 roundtrips on weekdays, half its usual service. Weekend service had previously been suspended entirely. Ridership is down 90%, the Santa Rosa Press-Democrat reports. Updated schedules are available here.
Brett, you’re missing the point. I grew up in NYC and know what it is like there. How is a nurse for example who lives in the Rockaway area get to their job at a hospital in Manhattan if they don’t drive or have a car. THEY TAKE THE “A” TRAIN!!!
@ Gerald, I have lived in Major cities, Chicago, LA, Anchorage, Miami. All those groceries, Pharmacies, Medical facilities, were always in walking distances, even Anchorage Alaska, heck even the Bars, Automotive dealers, garages, police & firehouses, parks, schools were walking distances. Besides, everything is closed supposedly, right?
The workers deserve hazard pay and hero status.
Then how else are vital workers going to get to work?
Majority of households in NYC do not have cars.
Should of shut it down immediately , but No, Not a good idea to keep running transit during a pandemic when people are packed in a railcar. Yet MTA is still in service. Stupid idea to keep running transit, STUPID!!! More MTA employees are going to get sick. I feel bad for those MTA and other transit employees around the country yet the big wigs are safe at home or at the office.
Brett happens to fall in the category of those “STUPID” people that don’t think about the ramifications of shutting down the only method of transportation some people have. Doesn’t matter what city you reside in, transit is necessary…not just for those essential workers, but those without vehicles that need to get to places like grocery stores, pharmacies, medical facilities…unless Brett wants to drive around the country and take the millions of people himself?
It’s not a “Stupid” idea to close down a transit system when large numbers of people depend on it to get to their jobs at hospitals, medical centers, pharmacies, grocery stores, police and fire stations, mail & delivery trucks, news outlets, plus the accounting staff to prepare payrolls for them.