Study Highlights Transit Agency Best Practices in Response to COVID-19

Share on Facebook
Share on Twitter
Share on
LinkedIn
+

Report describes what the MBTA is already doing and recommends additional steps

BOSTON – The MBTA is taking a number of important steps to mitigate risks associated with the coronavirus, but some transit agencies around the country – from Philadelphia to San Francisco – have done more, according to a new study that highlights the best practices of U.S. transit systems in response to COVID-19.

“The MBTA faces a daunting challenge trying to keep the system safe for essential workers, including its own employees, at a time of plummeting ridership and revenue,” said Andrew Mikula, author of “U.S. Transit Systems and COVID-19: How does the MBTA Compare?

Mikula looks at transit system responses in a range of categories, including the following:

Public relations and transparency  

The MBTA posts regular COVID-19 updates online, and the Fiscal and Management Control Board livestreams its meetings and actively solicits public comments.  The next step would be for the T to release presentation materials for the meetings in advance, as Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) does.

The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) posts detailed information about infections among staff online and provides special COVID system maps with information on rail closings.  The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transit Authority (SEPTA) even provides a map showing essential services adjacent to stations.

In the absence of some of these more advanced steps, MBTA unions have helped fill the gap by keeping employees engaged and informed on COVID-19.

Worker safety

The MBTA is restricting access to the front of buses to protect drivers.

The Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) is eschewing fare collection procedures to facilitate rear-door boarding.  WMATA is giving workers the authority to limit boardings when a vehicle is too crowded to allow for social distancing.

Disinfection

The MBTA is cleaning high-contact areas at stations six times a day and cleaning vehicles at least daily.  The T has beefed up its inventory of cleaning supplies and is among the many transit agencies that have added hand sanitizer dispensers in particularly busy stations.

BART now cleans high-contact areas eight times a day and CTA is reconfiguring station waiting areas and gathering places to facilitate social distancing.  SEPTA claims to clean each vehicle twice a day and has limited its bus fleet to those with easy-to-clean seat materials such as plastic.

Administration

WMATA has and is implementing an official Pandemic Flu Plan.  The MBTA should develop a similar plan to be used in the event of another public health crisis, terrorist threat, or severe weather event.

About the Author

Andrew Mikula is the Lovett & Ruth Peters Economic Opportunity Fellow at Pioneer Institute. Mr. Mikula was previously a Roger Perry Government Transparency Intern at Pioneer Institute and studied economics at Bates College.

About Pioneer

Pioneer Institute is an independent, non-partisan, privately funded research organization that seeks to improve the quality of life in Massachusetts through civic discourse and intellectually rigorous, data-driven public policy solutions based on free market principles, individual liberty and responsibility, and the ideal of effective, limited and accountable government.

Get Our COVID-19 News, Tips & Resources!

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Related Content

Heritage Foundation’s Jonathan Butcher on Edu Federalism, School Choice, Learning Pods

This week on “The Learning Curve," Gerard and Cara talk with Jonathan Butcher, the Will Skillman Fellow in Education at The Heritage Foundation. They discuss the growing popularity of learning pods, an education innovation propelled by K-12 public education’s failure to meet the COVID-19 moment. With as many as three million children enrolled in learning pods, 35 percent of parents participating in them, and another 18 percent interested in joining one, Butcher shares findings from his report on the role of pods in expanding parent-driven educational choice options.

Study Says Interstate Tax Competition, Relocation Subsidies Exacerbate Telecommuting Trends

A spate of new incentive and subsidy programs seeking to lure talented workers and innovative businesses away from their home states could constitute an additional challenge to Massachusetts’ economic and fiscal recovery from COVID-19, according to a new study published by Pioneer Institute.

“The Business of America is Business” – 25 Resources for High School Students

In Pioneer’s ongoing series of blogs on curricular resources for parents, families, and teachers during COVID-19, this one focuses on: Celebrating American Free-Market Capitalism.

Georgetown’s Dr. Marguerite Roza on K-12 School Finance, Spending, & Results

This week on “The Learning Curve," Gerard and Cara talk with Dr. Marguerite Roza, Research Professor and Director of the Edunomics Lab at Georgetown University. Professor Roza describes the three distinct phases of how American K-12 education has been funded over the last 40 years, and implications for equity and overall student achievement.

Massachusetts Should Disclose More Information about Its Recent Reduction in the Official Count of Long-term Care Deaths

The public -- particularly in Massachusetts, where COVID-19’s toll on elders has been so great -- has a right to know how many deaths occurred in state-regulated eldercare facilities, and how that compares to the total number of deaths. But the state's new counting standard clouds this information, and should be corrected or at least disclosed.

Preparing For Disaster: Health Readiness Expert’s Performance Review

Hubwonk Host Joe Selvaggi talks with Emergency Preparedness expert Dr. Paul Biddinger about how experts plan for disasters, and what went right and wrong in this pandemic.

Study Warns Massachusetts Tax Proposal Would Deter Investment, Stifling the “Innovation Economy”

A state constitutional amendment promoted by the Massachusetts Teachers Association and the Service Employees International Union adding a 4 percent surtax to all annual income above $1 million could devastate innovative startups dependent on Boston’s financial services industry for funding, ultimately hampering the region’s recovery from the COVID-19 economic recession, according to a new study published by Pioneer Institute.

“Be Strong, Saith My Heart” – National Poetry Month – 40 Resources for K-12 Students

In Pioneer’s ongoing series of blogs on curricular resources for parents, families, and teachers during COVID-19, this one focuses on: Celebrating National Poetry Month.

Stanford’s National Humanities Medal Winner Prof. Arnold Rampersad on Langston Hughes & Ralph Ellison

This week on “The Learning Curve," Gerard and Cara talk with Professor Arnold Rampersad, the Sara Hart Kimball Professor Emeritus in Humanities at Stanford University and recipient of the National Humanities Medal for his books including The Life of Langston Hughes and Ralph Ellison: A Biography.

Study Shows the Adverse Effects of Graduated Income Tax Proposal on Small Businesses

The state constitutional amendment promoted by the Massachusetts Teachers Association and the Service Employees International Union to add a 4 percent surtax to all annual income above $1 million will adversely impact a significant number of pass-through businesses, ultimately slowing the Commonwealth’s economic recovery from COVID-19, according to a new study published by Pioneer Institute.

COVID-19 Vaccine Tracker

Pioneer is proud to present a new vaccine tracker, the newest tool in our COVID-19 tracking project. Pioneer distilled the vaccination data down to those who are either fully vaccinated or partially vaccinated, by all the demographic categories published by the DPH. Use the new tool below to compare rates among groups, by municipality and by county. We will update the data every week.

The Washington Post’s Jay Mathews on An Optimist’s Guide to American Public Education

This week on “The Learning Curve," Gerard and Cara talk with Jay Mathews, an education columnist for The Washington Post and author of the recent book, An Optimist's Guide to American Public Education. Jay describes the three key trends in K-12 schooling that he views as cause for hope.