In August, the nine Bay Area counties launched the Riding Together: Bay Area Healthy Transit Plan. Transit operators in Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Francisco, Santa Clara, Solano, Sonoma, and San Mateo have all agreed to follow the new plan, a comprehensive strategy to limit the spread of Covid-19 by following new or adapted procedures in a host of areas that affect riders and workers. Those areas include the frequency of transportation disinfection, ventilation issues, rider education, and much more.

The Bay Area Healthy Transit Plan is the result of an unprecedented joint effort to lead the Bay Area’s transit operators into recovery mode, according to Ariel Mercado, Principal Government and Community Relations Representative for BART. The plan is based on best practices from peer agencies across the globe as well as information from the California Department of Public Health, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the World Health Organization. In addition to serving as a tool for public transit agencies on safety initiatives, the plan also outlines the responsibilities of riders when they use public transit. Those responsibilities include evaluating their own symptoms or exposure to Covid-19 and staying at home when they are sick.

New Procedures

The Bay Area Healthy Transit Plan is important in part because it covers public transportation throughout the entire Bay Area. “Many of our riders use Wheels or the Rapid bus system to connect with BART, with some even connecting to other transit systems such as AC Transit and Muni to complete their commute or other trips,” explains Michael Tree, Executive Director of the Livermore Amador Valley Transit Authority (LAVTA), which operates the Wheels system of buses and paratransit services in Dublin, Livermore, and Pleasanton. “The Healthy Transit Plan sets a minimum set of standards that each operator has agreed to follow so that there is consistency throughout the region. These standards and consistency are important to assure riders that their commute is safe when they are ready to return.”

LAVTA is one of the Bay Area transit operators that has made several changes to ensure that riders are offered clean and healthy transportation services. The top changes, according to Tree, include the use of face coverings, more frequent cleaning, and public education about social distancing. Bus operators and riders must wear face coverings while on Wheels buses and other public transit. According to the plan, public transportation customers are expected to bring and properly wear their own face coverings when accessing public transportation services and facilities to comply with the State of California’s order. Wheels has chosen, however, to provide face coverings to riders if they do not have one. Wheels buses are disinfected thoroughly each day; high-touch areas of buses are disinfected several times throughout the day. Additionally, hand sanitizer dispensers are available on all buses.

“We are encouraging and educating riders on the importance of maintaining adequate physical distancing while onboard the buses,” says Tree. “We are deploying extra buses when ridership warrants to maintain that safe distance, which is currently set at six feet by the Alameda County Health Officer.”

As the plan notes, “the most effective measures are layered for maximum results. Layering good hand hygiene, face coverings, ventilation, physical distancing, cleaning and disinfecting, limited time exposure, as well as passenger personal accountability provide for a safer environment than only one or two of the mitigation measures alone.”

New Metrics, New Information

“As we thought about the standards in the Healthy Transit Plan, we felt residents should have an opportunity to view how we are doing moving forward,” says Tree. “To that end, Wheels and other transit operators in the region have agreed to submit statistics on our performance in meeting the standards. The metrics and how we are doing, as well as other transit providers in the Bay Area, will be available soon on the Healthy Transit Plan website.”

As Covid-19 conditions continue to evolve, riders can also find the latest service information on the Wheels website. “Of huge benefit to customers is that they can view in real-time the passenger loads on buses through our transit app,” notes Tree. “We will also have weekly data updates to bus crowding available on our website in the very near future. That way customers can see recent, historical information on when the greatest number of riders are on their bus routes and can make adjustments to their trip times if possible.”

One of Hacienda's key commuting benefits is the free ECO Pass that allows all Hacienda employees and affiliated residents to ride local Wheels buses every day of the year. Wheels buses play a vital role in providing transportation and mobility options for those who do not drive or who prefer not to drive by connecting people to work, school, medical appointments, and to recreational opportunities. In total, LAVTA serves nearly 2 million passengers a year with its bus and paratransit services.

In both 2018 and 2019, LAVTA was named Transit Agency of the Year by both the California Transit Association and the California Association for Coordinated Transportation. This month, LAVTA was named the top transit agency of its size in North America by the American Public Transportation Association, which gave LAVTA the 2020 Outstanding Public Transportation System Achievement Award.

The executives and staff at LAVTA are working hard to make public transportation safe and reliable, and they are not alone. “BART and its transit partners are fighting this pandemic on every front,” says Bob Powers, BART General Manager. “Our trains, stations, and employees are ready to welcome back riders with reliable and safe service and to win back the confidence of the tens of thousands of people who relied on BART before the pandemic.”

For more information about Riding Together: Bay Area Healthy Transit Plan and to download the full plan, please visit www.healthytransitplan.org.

For more information about the Livermore Amador Valley Transit Authority, please visit www.wheelsbus.com.

For more information about Hacienda’s special transit offers, including the ECO pass, please visit www.hacienda.org/form/details/wheels%20eco%20pass.