As Seattle slowly reopens, deal with the info, not fears, of bus ridership

Washingtoners have stayed away from many places for the past year and a half. Local public transport was one of them. The total number of passengers has decreased by 80% or 90% for some systems – a difficult but good trend that reflects our commitment to protecting one another during the pandemic.

Many drivers are now looking forward to a return to the office and also to a return to transit. In the past few months, scientists have learned a lot about the safety of COVID-19 in transit and provided us with facts and information to help us make future travel decisions.

Scientific studies conducted in the US and around the world have repeatedly shown that there is no evidence that local public transport poses a risk for coronavirus outbreaks. Cities like Milan, which reopened transportation systems after being badly hit by the virus, have seen no further spikes in infection, and a Stanford study modeling the spread of COVID in major U.S. metropolises makes no mention of transit.

“On the contrary,” explains Scientific American, “transit can play a vital role in reducing air pollution that makes people more susceptible to COVID-19.”

That safety is thanks to transportation companies across the state and country who have followed the science of crisis response, health and safety for drivers and operators, and kept operations going during the pandemic. Transport companies have greatly increased cleaning protocols, adjusted capacity and increased frequency to account for social distancing, mandated and provided masks, created automated barriers between operators and drivers, and installed air filter upgrades. They have also improved communications so drivers can see for themselves what is being done to keep them safe and moving.

And it works. Transit has continued to operate even under the most difficult of circumstances. People have arrived where they are safe. Mask compliance is high, the crowd is monitored, and slowly but surely the authorities are adding more services to the system to meet people’s needs on a day-to-day basis. Last month, an additional 40,000 hours were added to the King County Metro and 200 drivers were hired again. These are key indicators and adjustments designed to ensure drivers are ready for transit, transit is ready for them.

As Seattle slowly reopens, we need to focus on the facts, not fears. The Seattle Times violated these efforts with an article that focused on the opinions of a few people to present scientific evidence [“With vaccination on the rise, Metro Transit plans for a rider rebound. But not everyone is eager to board the bus,” May 4, Northwest, ]. This article ignored the science of COVID and painted transit as a hazard with no data to back it up.

Reporting relied on personal anecdotes and fears rather than science or facts. That doesn’t help in a pandemic. By focusing on the people with the most options, it fosters the elitist narrative that wealthy people can log out of our common systems and continues to dry up the people who rely on those systems.

That is not a viable solution. There are roughly 250,000 jobs in downtown Seattle, but only 35,000 parking spaces. It is not physically possible for everyone to return to work without well-supported transit. It’s just math.

It also erases the fact that people have been safely in transit the entire time. Throughout the pandemic, our regional systems safely moved hundreds of thousands of people every day – key workers, students, people who cannot or cannot drive a car. The King County Metro alone makes more than 140,000 trips every weekday. This is thanks to the careful work these agencies work to ensure our safety, and each of us does our part. Transit is imperative and must be part of our recovery. We can all help make this happen.

Seattleiten appeared in November for transit drivers and overwhelmingly voted for a sales tax measure to preserve frequent bus services, shuttle vans and free student fares. It is imperative that recreation be rooted in safety and responsiveness to the needs of the driver, and people have legitimate concerns and fears that they need to address. But this is a transit city in an increasingly transit region. Transit drivers and our common future deserve better coverage.

Alex Hudson
is the executive director of the Transportation Choices Coalition, where she ensures that the funding, policies, and systems of transportation do the best for the greatest number of people.