Transport Ticketing Blog

Coronavirus (Covid-19): useful resources for transit agencies and operators

Written by James Gooch | 01-Apr-2020 15:04:10

We are living through challenging times as the world comes to terms with the global spread of coronavirus (Covid-19). While this crisis has upended our way of life, we could not be more proud to be a part of the transit industry community. The responses from our transit partners have inspired us daily. 

Around the world, we’ve seen transit (public transport) step up to this unprecedented challenge. Whether it’s by maintaining services for our transit dependent community members through rapidly changing service schedules, taking the necessary steps to protect transit operators (drivers) and riders, or through herculean system wide sanitization efforts to prevent the spread of the disease, transit agencies (and transport operators) have responded to this emergency with incredible resilience, courage and focus. 

The Masabi team has put together this compilation of resources as our small way of trying to do something useful. While you’re on the frontlines, continuing a crucial service in helping people and key workers get where they need to go, we want to make sure it's easy for you to find the resources you need to operate your systems during this difficult time.

From the whole team at Masabi, we are very proud to be your partner and your industry colleagues. 

We hope that this information will help agencies prepare for and tackle the Covid-19 pandemic. If we can provide help in any way please reach out to us, we will do everything in our power to assist you during this critical time.

Table of contents:

 

 

Transit agency (transport operator) resources

We have pulled together documents from experts around the globe who are helping to provide useful resources to transport agencies and operators. Here are the best ones we have found:

  • Community Transportation Association of America (CTAA). This page is a collection of useful resources and news vital to transit operators during the Covid-19 outbreak: https://ctaa.org/covid-19-resources/
  • National Association of City Transportation Officials. A list of resources from NACTO https://nacto.org/program/covid19/ who continually update this page with guidance and tools, including:

 

 

 

Impact on ridership
While the global stay at home measures have resulted in decreased ridership, we know that transit is our lifeblood. Ensuring that grocery and health workers can go to their places of employment so our communities and healthcare systems can keep functioning is crucial during this critical time. Here are some resources that might help you better understand how riders are riding your system through this period:

 

 

Funding news

It’s crucial transport providers get the necessary funding to ensure they can keep services moving while they are no longer getting significant revenues through fares. Here are some resources we’ve been following:


 

 

Useful information, offers and tools

 

 

 

General information on the diseases

 

 

 

Transit agency Covid-19 trends

 

Reduced services

Transport agencies are reducing services in response to the reduction in people traveling. They are still however on the frontlines, continuing a crucial service in helping people and key workers get where they need to go.

 

 

Cashless and ticketless ways to pay

Transport agencies and operators are promoting safe ways to pay so passengers do not need to use cash, a ticket office or ticket vending machines - reducing the chance of infection and the spread of Covid-19. Here are a few examples:

 

 

Temporarily suspending fares

Some transport agencies and operators are temporarily removing the need for people to pay fares to help keep operators (drivers) and passengers safe during this pandemic.

 

 

More on-demand transit

We have started to see agencies implement more on-demand responsive transport options: 

 

Maintenance and capital projects

Agencies use this time to work on maintenance and to accelerate major capital projects.

 

 

Sales tax revenue reductions

 

 

Increase in public-private partnerships

 

 

Post pandemic trends

 

 

We are sure there is more great content out there. If you know of any, please do share it with us and we will add them to this resource. If you have any questions, or you are looking to introduce a safe way for passengers to pay, please do drop us an email and we will do what we can to assist.

My email is james.gooch@masabi.com

Stay safe.