In January, public transportation temporarily shut down completely in Wuhan, China, where the coronavirus first began to spread. One of Ballard’s lieutenants has been in meetings with state and local officials, and no one has yet suggested shutting down service or encouraging people to stay off transit.
“I certainly don’t think we will get to that point,” he said. “At least I hope not.”
RTD announced in February that it has stepped up the cleaning regimen for its buses and trains and that its pandemic plan would get an update. That plan was last updated during the H1N1 flu scare of 2009-2010. It called for moving to an augmented Saturday service schedule on weekdays.
Finishing touches are being made to the new plan now, said Barbara McManus, executive manager of the RTD Board, at a board committee meeting Thursday. But it may not be made public because of “confidential” information, she said. The board itself is working on a plan to meet remotely in the coming weeks.
As schools close and employers encourage their employees to work from home, the agency is bracing for an impact on ridership. RTDs controller, Doug Macleod, told the board of directors on Tuesday that the agency has begun collecting data so it can compare ridership from before the coronavirus outbreak to ridership afterward.
Heather McKillop, the agency’s CFO, said her staff has also prepared revenue estimates that take into account potential ridership losses. After the coronavirus hit the Seattle area especially hard, transit agencies there have seen significant ridership declines.
“We’re hoping it doesn’t get to that point here,” she said.
