How COVID 19 stresses transit riders and the MTA alike

Rarely come the breaking points of a society into as sharp a focus as in the current pandemic. Far from being the  equal opportunity threat to everyone one might superficially consider a virus against which all humans are unprotected, COVID 19 hits the most vulnerable especially hard. Transit is like a magnifying glass for this condition.

MTA bus operator with mask. (Photo: MTA)

On a transit bus what is good for the health of essential employees riding the bus to work is not necessarily good for bus operators. The health of the homeless using the bus for shelter adds another layer of complexity.

The passengers: Being a bus riders is never all that much fun, what with buses being late, not showing up at all or breaking down en route? In the pandemic all of that happens more frequently, especially when the entire Eastern Bus "division' had to temporarily shut down because COVID had been detected in the facility. Fewer buses, fewer drivers (Absent due to quarantining), less seating, and longer commute times where the result, adding insult to injury for essential front line workers riding to their job in hospitals, nursing homes, government offices, construction sites or grocery stores who have to go to work during a pandemic.

Public transportation agencies are playing a critical role during the COVID-19 pandemic response, and they will continue to do so as we navigate the road to economic and social recovery throughout our nation. Public transit agencies have worked tirelessly to provide bus and rail service so that essential workers can get to hospitals, pharmacies, and grocery stores during the COVID-19 emergency, underscoring how essential it is to keep public transit running. (APTA Brochure)

"Essential Travel Only" (Photo: Philipsen) 

Being an operator is never an easy job, but it, too got harder in the pandemic when initially drivers got in close contact with everyone boarding the bus through the front door. Many got infected and several even died in the pursuit of this vital front line work. Rear door boarding was implemented to protect drivers but leaves regular bus riders on their own in the back.

Lastly, the homeless have long become a familiar sight on transit. Everyone using the subway in a major city knows the folks performing, begging or holding speeches on the trains.  In the pandemic being homeless is extra hard, in Baltimore where there is only one subway line, riding the bus becomes inviting, especially right now when rear door boarding has eliminated the ticket check by the operator.

In short, in the time of the pandemic, transit, always an explosive topic, has become an even more volatile topic. Below a few notes from drivers and riders posted on the Baltimore Transit Facebook page:

So the red 3666 decided to not stop at university hospital because the driver saw the homeless ppl and didn’t stop but the driver left ppl who really needed that bus

And now I'm sitting here for another 34 min waiting for another Bus. Its so frustrating 

I’m telling you they have the buses on a Saturday schedule which means less buses and they will be crowded because those MF’S won’t stay in the house and just let essential people ride. Once it’s a few people standing up that social distancing kicks in and the bus won’t stop. I’m sorry you’re going through that but until everything goes back to normal this will continue to happen 

everyday last week I had a run that I was suppose to get relieved on out of 5 days I got a relief on 1 day. 2 of the 5 days I pulled the bus in to the yard. The other 2 days I just stayed out and did another round trip by that time it was 10:00pm and was time for me to go home. Everyone is doing something diffrent everyday most of us don't have a set schedule

short staffed a lot are still out quarantined. I just don’t understand why they would do a Saturday schedule when all the methodone clinics are still open and they are crowding the buses meanwhile real essential employees can’t get on, it’s pathetic

Masks required on transit in every state

Better off folks sheltering at home may wonder why the buses are even operating in a time of social distancing. Indeed, transit ridership has gone down between 60-80% across systems all across the nation. Still, the question why transit at all overlooks the facts on the ground in Baltimore and most metro areas: How about this: Those staying home benefit from the many workers that go to work every day, no matter how much some jobs put them at risk. or this: Baltimore is a city where in some large neighborhoods more than half of the households have no car. Those workers have no other way to commute than the bus, and residents without a car have no other way to get necessities. In short, transit remains a vital lifeline, "Stay at Home" orders or not.

After initially running the full schedule the MTA responded to reduced ridership by thinning out service to Saturday service levels, no matter that the remaining riders needed to adhere to workday work hours. Seeing congestion, the MTA added more runs to the Saturday schedule on heavily frequented routes. MTA currently collects hardly any fares, so whatever operations add to the deficit that all transit agencies have anyway. The BBJ reported that MTA will receive $385 million federal COVID funds. The BBJ stated that MTA's total 2019 operating bugdet was $881 million.  The extra money may help for a bit, but with a huge backlog in repairs and reduced income from the transportation trust fund, MTA's financial future is in jeopardy, no matter how thin the current service.

Homeless on a MTA bus

Operators and riders dread the thinned schedule: Small crowds of workers, the down and out and the "invincibles who don't care about masks or take them off once inside the bus. They all greet the drivers at bus stops sometimes forcing operators to pass without stopping or do jump out of their seats to call for order in the back of the bus.  Some drivers call all non essential riders "joy riders", a term that doesn't sit well with homeless advocates.

The transit conundrum under COVID is coming to a head in many cities across the world, but it is particularly acute where poverty and homelessness are exceptionally high, as in Baltimore. Tension between a driver and an irate passenger in once instance escalated into an operator being shot in the early days of COVID operations.

 Some bus drivers let ppl get on without a mask!!! And dont say nothin to them at all. (Baltimore Transit)

Seriously does any of the MTA Top Officials ride the Bus . You cant tell me that you trying to keep your Operators or Riders safe😣. First we had to wait for the Blue. And we didnt even made it down to Eastern Avenue leaving Bayview and the Bus was allready crowded. I think its a Slap in the Face for everybody who risking there Life's rightnow and can't get to Work or can't get Home. And on Top of it I'm Shoulder to Shoulder with other People.And no I'm not blaming the Operators . They have to breathe the same Air than we do. Sorry I had to vent. (Baltimore Transit Facebook page)

There is no easy answer. Pre-existing problems won't be solved in a pandemic, more likely they become bigger and more pronounced. MTA had to quarantine drivers and shut down entire "divisions" (the garages from where the buses get dispatched) but is now back to running all garages. Many solutions that may work elsewhere will exacerbate fault lines that have been in place in Baltimore for a long time.

• Police action, for example: Should the police clear out the homeless from subways and buses as New York City began to do? The MTA has their own police force. But wouldn't this just heighten the distrust and smack of the old policing tactics that targeted poor black men in particular?
• Or identification of essential workers via an app like it is done in China. Should the State issue "essential Worker IDs" that would have to be checked by MTA staff at bus stops or in the bus? Wouldn't that disadvantage those without smart phones in a time when the issuance of physical cards would be impossible? And what about other users who go shopping or to see a doctor?
• Should essential workers simply accept the heightened risk that comes from crowding and unhygienic conditions on the bus and live with prolonged commute times? Isn't that the problem to begin with, namely that our transit commute times are too long and the buses to unreliable?
• Should the MTA send more buses out until everyone who wants to ride can find a safe distance to other riders? That would be an obvious solution if the MTA would have endless funding or enough drivers ready to roll, even when sick leave began to rise, in part due to COVID?
• Should front doors be re-opened but cash transactions be eliminated so no interaction with the driver is needed? For that the driver enclosure would have to be extended to provide better protection, a costly undertaking keeping even more buses out of circulation?

Sooo. I'm on my way to work. On the bus. The bus line is running on. SATURDAY schedule. But...ALL the people going to work are on their regular schedule.meaning we still have to be at work on a weekday schedule dozens of passengers are cramped on a bus. With NOOOO. Possible choice to social distance. My second bus doesnt run for another hour. (Baltimore Transit Facebook page)

None of these solutions seem to be particularly practical or convincing. Maybe a combination of some of these may work, especially considering that solutions will be needed for some time to come.

Whatever is done, some will see it as an extension of the inequity already permeating society and of the unfair practices of enforcing laws on the back of those who are already vulnerable. But sometimes one needs to think outside the box:

A creative suggestion regarding the homeless came from a bus operator: He proposed the MTA should run a few of the articulated longer buses along routes that are especially important to the homeless, thus taking pressure off the regular routes. He took his cue from the Baltimore practice of using buses as warm up or cooling spaces during Artscape in the summer or the Monument Lighting in the winter.

Though you may encounter a few “bad apples”, for the most part homeless riders aren’t a problem. They genuinely want to get on, feel safe as transit is much safer than the streets, and go to sleep. That’s it. Create A “Transit Care Bus”- Use an artic if you have them; they will allow safe spacing. Layover The Bus At HotSpots and Run The Route To Other Hot Spots.- If you dont know where the homeless hot spots are, ask your operators, they’ll know off hand. Periodically run the route through those corridors picking up patrons and promoting the resource at the same time. (Bus Operator 1198 on Medium)

The media are full of stories on how we have to imagine a world in which Corona will dictate all of our steps. Transit is front and center in these discussions, along with elevators in buildings, classrooms in schools, restaurants and offices, all the places that don't make 6' distancing easy.

Those who never liked transit and prefer the private car, take advantage of virologists attributing the catastrophe in New York to the city's subway.

Those who always thought people should drive less take the cleaner air and the empty city streets as an opportunity to propagate a batter distribution of streetscape for pedestrians, buses and bikes.

Driver protection zone (Chicago)

And those who depend on transit simply hope that service will soon get back to normal frequencies and operations.

Which of these scenarios will come to pass? As it is the case for almost everything else, the future of transit is deeply immersed in the fog of the ongoing battle against the virus.  Large cities will never work well without transit in the same way as tall buildings won't work without elevators or international travel will require planes.

As with everything else, though, there are hidden opportunities. "Never let a good crisis go to waste", Delegate Robbyn Lewis quoted Winston Churchill in her effort towards are more equitable and safer transportation system in Baltimore. In that sense cities may come out of this crisis with a heightened awareness of how important functional transit really is to keep things going.

Klaus Philipsen, FAIA

The Transit app is free and available on Apple and Android devices. To learn more, visit https://www.mta.maryland.gov/transit. For the latest Coronavirus services updates, visit https://www.mta.maryland.gov/coronavirus.