This week in transit: Phase One still means essential bus trips only!

TAKE ACTION

As parts of the region move into Phase One of coronavirus recovery, more and more essential employees and other folks will head back to work on the bus. If you're planning to get back on the bus in the near term, please remember the following guidelines from GRTC:

1. All on-board fare collection and enforcement is suspended.
2. Enter and exit using the rear doors only, and sit behind the accessibility-reserved seating area. Only passengers needing the boarding ramp or operator assistance may use the front doors.
3. Please wear a face mask when riding and leave the seat next to you empty.
4. And, most importantly, please eliminate all non-essential trips, and follow all health precautions and social distancing guidelines.

Also, keep an eye on the Governor's Forward Virginia page for those health and social distancing guidelines.

AROUND THE REGION

Several weeks ago, GRTC began conducting ongoing, voluntary COVID-19 testing among their staff and bus operators. Since then, they've had five confirmed cases of the virus, with one operator hospitalized. You can read about each case and GRTC's response over on their website.

ELSEWHERE

Portland State University has an interesting study about who's impacted when transit agencies get rid of on-bus cash payments. They found older folks may not have access to smartphones, some riders may be unbanked, and a significant number of people "rely on WiFi as their sole source of internet connectivity." Each of those things makes paying without cash much less convenient. Turns out, it takes a lot of (expensive) infrastructure to equitably remove cash payments from an entire transit system. Sometimes—and possibly in Richmond—going fare-free instead of cash-free might actually be less expensive and more equitable.

—Ross Catrow

This week in transit: Socially-distanced ridership stats

TAKE ACTION

Crafty transit supporters! GRTC still needs mask for bus operators and passengers that require assistance boarding! If you've got the skills, considering making a handful of masks and sending them to GRTC's headquarters (301 E. Belt Boulevard). Alternatively, you can join in this mutual aid effort headed up by Studio Two Three and 1708 Gallery to make masks for all sorts of essential workers.pdf)—bus operators included.

AROUND THE REGION

Effective today, GRTC will enact a handful of service reductions as part of their plan to continue safely providing critical public transportation for essential workers:

• #4A Montrose / #4B Darbytown will lose their 15-minute peak frequency and will run 30-minute service all day long.
• #39 Fairmount/Oakwood will be discontinued until further notice.
• #75 Three Chopt will be discontinued until further notice.
• #78 Cary/Maymont will lose its 30-minute peak frequency in the morning and will run hourly until the evening peak.

This past week, GRTC's board met virtually for the first time, and you can watch a recording of the call over on YouTube or read through the agenda and board meeting packet here (PDF). The latter contains a lot of interesting COVID-19 related discussions, but also some updated ridership numbers from the beginning of the coronavirus crisis (p. 34). Through March, ridership is, of course, down. Keep in mind only half of March took place under social-distancing requirements, but local service ridership dropped about 6% and Pulse ridership dropped 21%. Further down in the PDF (p. 40), you can see that year-over-year ridership across the entire system for March 16th–April 9th dropped 27%. Also on page 40, notice that several routes—mostly the 15-minute routes and the #7—still often exceed 40 passengers per bus. This makes it extremely hard to do proper social distancing and is part of the reason GRTC has cut service elsewhere: To put more buses on these crowded and essential routes.

The General Assembly approved the Governor's recommended changes to HB 1541, the bill creating the Central Virginia Transportation Authority. Two changes to note: The first requires localities to fund GRTC at 50% of their 2019 funding level (vs. 50% of their 2020 funding level), and the second shifts the Authority's start date from July back to October. Cities all over the country are faced with plummeting revenues across the board and will be forced to make hard decisions when it comes to funding public transportation. In the midst of all this uncertainty, the Richmond region is lucky to have this new source of revenue to put toward transit.

ELSEWHERE

This week, RVA Rapid Transit signed on to an open letter to the White House Coronavirus Task Force asking for better federal coordination to provide personal protective equipment for transit workers. In short: "Bus and train operators, maintenance workers, and cleaning staff at transit agencies around the country are putting their lives on the line as they enable essential travel for millions of Americans, ensuring the continued provision of food, medical care, and other basic goods and services during the COVID-19 pandemic. Without strong federal coordination to procure PPE for transit workers, they face needless risks on the job."

—Ross Catrow