Safety in numbers

摘要

Public transport operators around the world have introduced many new measures to promote safety during the COVID-19 pandemic, but the task could become trickier as passenger numbers rise. While many operators have kept services running throughout COVID-19 lockdowns, the result of most people being told to stay away has resulted in a massive loss of income. For example, passenger numbers on the USA's San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) have consistently been around 10% of normal levels, which if sustained and taken with other revenue impacts, could see the operator lose US$57m ({EUR}50m) a month in revenue. BART is not alone, and in May joined with other US public transportation agencies to ask Congress to include at least US$32bn ({EUR}28bn) in transit funding in its next COVID-19 response package, in addition to federal CARES Act FTA funding that has already been awarded.