A coalition of Bay Area transit agencies released a joint plan to assuage rider fears of contracting COVID-19 and suggesting ways for them to keep healthy as they return to public transit.
The “Riding Together” plan outlines the steps that more than two dozen transit agencies in nine Bay Area counties plan to take to safely welcome riders back, using guidance from the California Department of Public Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization.
Under the state’s mandate, riders must wear face coverings when using public transit.
Some transit operators will have the capacity to provide face coverings as needed, but they will also have the right to refuse service to someone whose face is uncovered.
Riders will also be encouraged to maintain at least 3 feet of distance from each other, minimize talking and singing while taking public transit and use touchless fare payment methods like Clipper.
Transit stations will be cleaned and disinfected more frequently and modified under the Riding Together plan to prevent closely congregated groups of people, be it in elevators or on station platforms.
Buses and light rail and subway cars will also be ventilated as much as possible to promote the flow of fresh air and prevent the virus’s airborne spread.
“Economic recovery can’t happen without transit,” San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency Director of Transportation Jeffrey Tumlin said. “And transit doesn’t work if our passengers and operators don’t feel safe.”
The plan also includes employee health and safety standards that transit agencies must follow, including supplying workers with personal protective equipment and implementing a COVID-19 assessment before employees enter a transit facility or operate a vehicle.
Transit agencies will also conduct contact tracing as warranted if an employee tests positive for the COVID-19 coronavirus.
“Our trains, stations, and employees are ready to welcome back riders with reliable and safe service and to win back the confidence of the tens of thousands of people who relied on BART before the pandemic,” BART General Manager Bob Powers said.
BART has implemented similar health and safety guidelines as part of its 15-step plan to entice riders back. BART’s ridership has hovered since March around 10 percent to 20 percent of its pre-pandemic levels.
In total, 27 public transit agencies and providers in Napa, Marin, San Francisco, Santa Clara, Contra Costa, Alameda, San Mateo, Solano and Sonoma counties are participating in the Riding Together plan.
The plan can be found at healthytransitplan.org.
Yeah, this will work because people understand the dangers of respiratory transmission of Covid and EVERYBODY is on board with wearing a protective mask. The homeless and aggressive panhandlers will also be greatly concerned about protecting everyone’s health and will social distance. This is just more, “We’ve got to start up the old ways again, even though we don’t have a handle on controlling this disease.”, just like opening the bars and restaurants, schools, and other communal areas too soon. I know 3 people who caught this bug and although they survived, the illness almost killed one and they don’t know what the longterm effects will be.
Covid 19 Joint safety plan?… yeah, don’t share a joint.
They “encourage” people keep 3 feet? I thought it was 6 feet. And anyone who has relied on Bart for transportation to the city in the morning can tell you that it gets packed like sardines in there. Not to mention the homeless people that sleep on it daily or the guys the snort cocaine in the middle of the Bart cars? What is Bart going to do about these people? You can sniff cocaine with a mask; is all I’m trying to say.
My joint plan is simple: stay off BART. It’s dangerous, dirty, disgusting and too expensive.
I agree with you. I don’t trust BART to follow safe protocols.
I am so happy I am DONE with commuting on BART. I used it for my job at UC Berkeley for most of my career. It was safer and cleaner in those days. Now with this virus I will not use BART. I can’t think of a more dangerous place to be for the spread of COVID-19!
BART can’t even keep riders safe when there isn’t a pandemic.
They need to vastly improve fresh air ventilation. The bus looks like an enclosed air conditioned box, because it is.
Don’t look down the ventilation slots in front of the windows.
Just the right size for junkies to drop their used needle down there.
So the “fresh” air blows right over them…
covid is killing more than people … previously fat, unresponsive agencies are dying too.
How about enforcement of the fare gates and kicking the “zombie” riders off at the end of the line.
Here we go again. Changing the rules to fit whatever the government wants. It’s okay to riot and protest with no masks and be inches apart while screaming, but we can’t go to church and sing. Now it’s okay to take BART be 3 feet apart in an enclosed area as long as you wear your little mask. Oh and you can’t stand in line to vote. We have to make you mail it in because we’re concerned about spreading the virus.
And there are still people out there that think this is a killer pandemic and it’s not political..
“COVID is now the No. 3 cause of death in the U.S. — ahead of accidents, injuries, lung disease, diabetes, Alzheimer’s, and many, many other causes,”
Three feet is the new six feet, I guess. Unlike you ZZ,I believe in wearing a mask and doing my best to social distance because I live with immune compromised individuals, but I agree that riots and being enclosed with others on Bart goes totally against what our local government was initially telling us to do. But it seems like they have turned a blind eye turned against it. Hypocrisy at its finest. Either way, it’s a shame this virus was politicized in the first place. Shame on our elected officials, this whole thing has been a disaster.
Thank you, ZZ! Agree completely. You took the words right out of my mask. Lol
Why are they wiping stuff down if it has been proven covid does not spread through surface contact? Just search “CDC says COVID-19 not caught easily from surfaces”
Re read the article, it says it’s not EASILY spread through contact surfaces. That doesn’t mean it has a 0% possibility to spread through contact surfaces,
Googlar & Jay posts are the perfect example of the predicament we have had placed on us. Everyone uses words and statements that can be interpreted completely differently. That is why this is a psychological operation. No masks, mandatory masks. The sun kills it fast, no beach. Spreads in large gatherings, protests are welcomed. Bleach wipes work great, pools with chlorine are the most dangerous. Both of these posts are 100% truthful. If this was real there would be clear and concise information actual decisions could be based on. Instead we have BART randomly changing medical advice about distancing requirements.
Remember, Gavin says we will let science guide our decision!
Bart has been dangerously violent and overcrowded for decades now. Yet it’s still more expensive than gas + bridge toll if your car does a measly 25mpg.
So, three feet apart on public transportation and they say with improved ventilation, this is fine. Yet the beaches must be closed this coming holiday. Perhaps they will open the beachs when they can improve beach ventilation.
We have been lied to over and over with the assumption that the public are dullards. I won’t forget this when the local elections come around.
OKFine, and we are how many MONTHS into this pandemic and NOW they come up with this ? ? ?
Wonder how many weeks (or months) it took, to come up with the catchy name for their plan ? ?
President Reagan was correct,
“The best minds are not in government.
If any were, business would hire them away.”
This is a disaster of a plan. BART can’t handle the homeless and behavior-disruptive individuals. How are they supposed to handle non-mask wearers who are willing to assault retail workers?
Also, are you going to add more cars and trains then so that we can safely maintain minimum 3 feet distance?
What a joke.
Friends don’t let friends ride BART!
The BART business model must be terrific. They had a 90% reduction in paying customers and yet they didn’t have to lay off a single employee! Wow, what a business model! They should be teaching this in college business courses.
Don’t get me started on BART . . .
The directors who are on their THIRD government pension .. .
We need people who care about others using the system. We need so much more than these entities are offering – in so many ways. I would not ride BART if my life depended on it – literally. I’ll stop with that because . . .