On local buses, the fare box is near the front door, so the policy effectively eliminated fares on those routes. implemented rear-door boarding on buses to keep passengers distanced from drivers until plastic partitions could be installed around the driver’s seats. “The majority of bus riders during the pandemic were essential workers,” said Jaqi Cohen, the campaign director for the Straphangers Campaign, which advocates for public transit riders. Richardson said.īus ridership dropped precipitously in March, but rebounded faster than subway ridership. “Despite the fact that all of the subsequent studies have failed to show a link between Covid transmission and transit, that idea was difficult to dislodge once it got into people's minds,” Ms. And some former riders may still be avoiding transit for fear of contracting the virus, though transmission risks are lower than offices or classrooms if all passengers wear masks and practice social distancing. Those initial fears of infection may have spurred car purchases. In the early days of the pandemic, it seemed all but impossible to follow social distancing guidelines while staying safe on New York’s crowded buses and subways. Station and train cleaning efforts require closing the subway system overnight, which reduces service in the early morning hours. spent $371 million on pandemic-related costs in 2020 and expects to spend close to that same amount each year through 2024. The high costs of sanitization and investments in worker protections have also compounded financial problems for the organization. will require an additional $8 billion by 2024 to avoid dramatic service cuts and layoffs. has been operating on a total of $8 billion in coronavirus relief payments from the federal government and an additional $3 billion in short-term loans. The citywide decline in subway riders has wiped out the transit budget.
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