Design_research — Beste Saylar

For decades, cities have invested in building public transportation system and reducing the number of cars on the road. Hundreds of millions of people flock to transit hubs around the world everyday, as they travel into work in the mornings and go home at night.

The coronavirus pandemic has turned the daily commute into a public health risk from swiping a subway ticket to touching a payment screen, or squeezing on to crowded train. The way many of us used to travel now means risking exposure to deadly virus.

Perfect scenario for the virus to be transmitted because you got so many people packed in so closely, the risk of infection os actually quite considerable.
Dr. James Hildreth

To get people commute again many transportation networks are tying to make that journey safer. In some cities has set off a race to find different ways people to move. How is the pandemic changing the way we commute?

Social Distancing and Sanitation:
Mandatory masks, social distancing signs and one way walking systems.
MTA RULES:
Remember masks are required when you ride with us. Riders who refuse to wear a mask could get a $50 fine. If you need a mask, ask us for a free one. We are not scheduling shared rides. (You can still travel with a personal care attendant or guest.) We’re running on a regular schedule. Subway service is still suspended from 1 a.m. to 5 a.m. while we disinfect stations and trains. Reminding riders about precautions to keep everyone safe, including floor decals and station announcements.

The reality of reopening cities means that some transit systems can get overwhelmed easily. Overcrowding makes social distancing particularly difficult. Many cities focusing on deep cleaning like New York. The MTA is testing a UV light system to try and kill COVID-19. In Hong Kong robots are rolling through trains spraying disinfectants. Some Beijing subway stations are using a temperature screening system to check for potential fevers. while also using reservations to try and manage the flow of people and cleaners are using electrostatic sprayer packs to clean trains in many places. Chinese subways are using AI facial recognition scanners to help detect whether people have coronavirus.

One way to make riders safer is by not letting trains get too full and that means sacrificing some ticket sales, which in turn means less money to operate those same trains.

“Ridership on the subway is still just 20 percent of pre-pandemic levels. Many commuters remain fearful of being exposed to the coronavirus” says Todd Heisler from The New York Times. Five months after the coronavirus outbreak engulfed New York City, riders are still staying away from public transportation in enormous numbers, often because they are concerned that sharing enclosed places with strangers is simply too dangerous.

But the picture emerging in major cities across the world suggests that public transportation may not be as risky as nervous New Yorkers believe.

She suggest that, subways, commuter railways and buses may not be a significant source of transmission, as long as riders wear masks and train cars or buses never become as intensely crowded as they did in pre-pandemic rush hours. If the risks of mass transit can be addressed, that could have sweeping implications for many large American cities, particularly New York, where one of the biggest challenges in a recovery will be coaxing riders back onto subways, buses and suburban trains — a vast system that is the backbone of the region’s economy.

When the city shut down in March, over 90 percent of the subway’s 5.5 million weekday riders abandoned the system. Even now, as the city has largely contained the virus and reopened some businesses, ridership is still just 20 percent of pre-pandemic levels, adding to the financial strain of New York’s transit agency, which relies on fare revenue for 40 percent of its operating budget.

Is the subway Risky?

Some Points from Research

New York officials are trying to balance two goals: drawing as many riders back as possible while also avoiding sardine-can crowding at rush hour They have appealed to business leaders to have employees start at different hours, though the pressure on the system has eased notably since the shift toward working from home is expected to last for months, if not longer.

People tend to stay on trains or buses for relatively short amounts of time, compared with a day’s work in an office or an outing to a bar to see friends. Riders tend to not talk on the train, reducing the number of aerosols they release.

Subway’s ventilation system

The subway’s ventilation system moves air within train cars more efficiently than restaurants, schools and other indoor settings, according to aerosol experts. But it is not a guarantee to protect against the virus.

Here’s how the system works from New York Times

Only 20 percent of New York’s 5.5 million weekday subway riders now use the system. The health experts caution that if more people begin riding the subway, pushing crowding closer to pre-pandemic levels, the ability of the system’s ventilation to lessen the risk of viral transmission diminishes dramatically. Even when riders are wearing masks, it is possible for a passenger to inhale the viral particles exhaled by a sick passenger if they are standing shoulder-to-shoulder.

RETURNING BACK TO WORK

Transit officials predict that as many as 15 percent of usual riders — or 825,000 people — are likely to ride the system during the first phase of the recovery, when manufacturing, construction and some retail businesses reopen.

The subway will remain shut between 1 a.m. and 5 a.m. to allow for an intense cleaning and disinfection regimen that includes new ultraviolet technology. In some stations, floor marking and wall decals have also been placed to encourage social distancing. Hand sanitizing stations and mask vending machines are also being rolled out across the system, as is a pilot to test new air filters that can kill microbes, officials said.

To reduce overcrowding during peak hours, the agency has requested that major employers allow flexible start times for employees who must return to work, though the M.T.A. does not have the authority to mandate this.

The M.T.A. has also urged Mayor Bill de Blasio to add 60 miles of bus lanes — a 42 percent increase from the existing 144 miles — and step up enforcement to keep bus lanes clear in order to expand service and offer subway riders a viable alternative to the train.