Greenwich Time

Fears, tension mount for commuters

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NEW YORK — One by one, the fears creep in as Aura Morales rides the bus to her job at CVS in Los Angeles. A passenger boards without a mask but she doesn’t dare confront him. More riders board and it’s impossible to stay 6 feet apart. Driving to work isn’t an option; Morales can’t afford a car, especially after her work hours were cut.

“I get on the bus, I just pray,“said the 53-year-old.

As the coronaviru­s rages across the U.S., grocery workers, health care profession­als, university staffers, cleaning crews and others who don’t have the option to work from home must weigh safety against affordabil­ity when deciding how best to commute to their jobs.

Those who can have ditched public transporta­tion and drive to work instead, contributi­ng to a boon in used car sales in the U.S., which spiked to their highest level on record in June, according to Edmunds.

Meanwhile, public transit agencies have seen ridership plummet, not only because of all the people opting for cars but also so many are now working from home or have lost their jobs altogether. Transit ridership fell 62 percent nationwide in the third quarter compared to last year, according to the American Public Transporta­tion Associatio­n. Heavy rail fared even

worse, dropping 72 percent in the third quarter.

The San Francisco Municipal Transporta­tion Agency warned that without an influx of cash it would have to lay off up to 1,226 full-time workers, or 22 percent of its workforce, and provide just 35 percent of the service it offered before the pandemic. New York’s transit agency proposed slashing subway and bus service by 40 percent, cutting commuter rail service in half and laying off nearly 9,400 positions. Washington D.C.’s transit system warned of layoffs and shorter hours as federal financial assistance dries up.

“It really is survival mode for the industry, or we’re going to see dramatic reductions in their service

deliveries, which would really be counter-productive,” said Paul Skoutelas, APTA’s President and CEO. “Essential workers rely on public transit by and large, and we can’t let them down.”

In September, 71 percent of U.S. workers across all sectors were commuting to physical workplaces while 29 percent were doing their jobs remotely, according to a survey of 1,015 employed adults by the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy and The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

Those relying on public transit have already seen schedules cut since the start of the pandemic in March, leading to packed crowds on fewer buses and trains. Mounting tensions over lax social distancing and mask-wearing as coronaviru­s cases spike have only made their commuting experience worse.

Hipolito Andon, 44, rides the subway to Rockefelle­r Center in Manhattan where he works as a porter cleaning and maintainin­g the building. He and his wife, who takes a bus to her school cooking job, are diabetic, increasing their risk of complicati­ons if they catch COVID-19. Andon’s son takes public transit to a porter job as well. As soon as they get home, everyone showers and changes clothes.

As the pandemic has dragged on, Andon sees more people boarding trains without masks.

“You hear people muttering, ‘Why is this guy not wearing a mask?’ But there’s no confrontat­ion. People just move away,” Andon said.

Traffic patterns show a growing number of commuters making the same calculatio­n.

Dozens of cities worldwide, including Paris and London, saw traffic rebound to pre-pandemic levels in September despite the fact that many major employers were keeping their workforces at home, according to Inrix, a company that analyzes traffic data. In the U.S., traffic in smaller cities from Colorado Springs to Knoxville, Tenn., surpassed pre-pandemic levels during the morning commute.

 ?? Frank Franklin II / Associated Press ?? People enter and exit a train at the Fordham Metro-North station on Oct. 22 in New York. As the coronaviru­s rages across the U.S., grocery workers, health care profession­als, university staffers, cleaning crews and others who don’t have the option to work from home must weigh safety against affordabil­ity when deciding how best to commute to their jobs.
Frank Franklin II / Associated Press People enter and exit a train at the Fordham Metro-North station on Oct. 22 in New York. As the coronaviru­s rages across the U.S., grocery workers, health care profession­als, university staffers, cleaning crews and others who don’t have the option to work from home must weigh safety against affordabil­ity when deciding how best to commute to their jobs.

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