This week in transit: Socially-distanced ridership stats

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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

This week in transit: GRTC announces service reductions

AROUND THE REGION

Effect next Sunday, April 26, GRTC will reduce service on the following routes:

• #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.

GRTC's reasoning for these service reductions: "...to redistribute those resources to busier local routes with passenger counts averaging greater than 20 people per bus. Re-deploying vehicles enables customers to better observe physical distancing guidelines on-board buses during the COVID-19 crisis." While we never want to see cuts to bus service, these specific cuts and the reasoning behind them make sense in this particular moment. For context, Jarrett Walker, who spends his entire professional life thinking about and redesigning bus systems, wrote up some thoughts this week about why, how, and when to cut service—and how agencies can recover from those cuts.

This past week GRTC announced they've been able to clean 100% of their entire bus fleet each and every day. From the email: "This is four times faster than normal, and this speed is thanks to the voluntary overtime efforts our of Cleaning and Maintenance staff. There are literally dozens of people behind-the-scenes working for our collective public health." Huge thank yous to the transit workers making this happen!

Mayor Stoney took some time this past week to thank bus operators and transit workers for the critical role they're playing during this crisis (via a socially-distant YouTube).

Learning opportunity alert! This coming Friday, April 24th, Partnership for Smarter Growth will host a webinar on the value of transit featuring Stewart Schwartz from PSG, GRTC CEO Julie Timm, and Chief of Public Transportation at the Department of Rail and Public Transportation Jennifer DeBruhl. You can register over on the Eventbrite.

Stay well,

Ross Catrow

This week in transit: "It is helping prevent the collapse of civilization"

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Studio Two Three needs help making masks for essential workers—including bus operators. You can lend a hand by donating money to support mask making, volunteering for a mask-making shift at Studio Two Three, donating supplies (thread, Clorox wipes, medical gloves, and hand sanitizer), or even making masks at home.

AROUND THE REGION

GRTC announced its first service cuts as a result of COVID-19. Beginning this past Wednesday, most express routes have fewer runs and the #28x White Oak Village is suspended until further notice. The #95x Petersburg will continue its normal schedule for now. If cuts are necessary, cutting express routes is the right place to start as many typical express riders are now working from home. GRTC will use the buses and operators freed up by these cuts to increase the frequency on the region's high-ridership routes—the #1A, #2ABC, #3BC, and the Pulse. Increased frequency means more buses on each of these routes, which means more space for folks to keep a safe distance from one another while riding.

On April 6th, GRTC announced that an employee tested positive for COVID-19. From the release: "The GRTC employee is recovering well at home on paid sick leave. The employee has not been in GRTC facilities or vehicles since Friday, March 27th. GRTC is confident the risk of exposure to its customers and frontline staff is negligible because the case was contained early."

Wyatt Gordon has a letter to the editor in the Village News about the importance of GRTC's new Route #111—especial during times of crisis.

ELSEWHERE

This piece in the New York Times paints a dark picture for transit after we emerge from the immediate coronavirus crisis: "The same essential workers riding transit now — grocery store clerks, home health aides, hospital cafeteria workers, cleaning staff — will still need transit in the future. And so what is likely to happen to transit will be a long second blow to the people currently bearing the brunt of the coronavirus crisis."

Public transit planner Jarrett Walker has a great piece in Citylab about the importance of public transit. This quote, in particular, is excellent and true: "The goal of transit, right now, is not competing for riders nor providing a social service. It is helping prevent the collapse of civilization."

—Ross Catrow