Monterey-Salinas Transit amps up cleaning routines as it continues serving riders.

Since the shelter-in-place order began on March 18, Monterey-Salinas Transit has seen a 75 percent drop in ridership, but has started taking twice the measures to keep their busses clean. 

Carl Sedoryk, the general manager of MST, said that after a hepatitis A outbreak in 2016, the company began stricter cleaning routines. The transit agency started using a germicidal cleanser on the interior of the busses each evening and started washing the bus stops and shelters with an ammonia-based cleaning product. Drivers were issued gloves, masks and hand sanitizer. 

Since the COVID-19 outbreak, these measures have been amped up. The busses are now being washed down twice daily, once in the afternoon and once in the evening. They have started offering free rides and asking riders to enter through the rear door to limit interaction with drivers. Drivers have been instructed to wear gloves when touching any personal items, particularly wheelchairs and other items of mobility impaired riders.

A limit of 10 riders on each bus is supposed to be monitored by drivers, and on routes that have higher ridership more busses are being added. 

Sedoryk is also working with a printing company to distribute sidewalk adhesives that show passengers how far to stand apart when they are waiting at transit stations. 

“It might be footprints that will say something like “Be safe, stand here,” in English over one foot and in Spanish over the other,” he says. 

On March 18, MST declared a fiscal emergency, allowing them to make changes to their routes and schedules without going through the process of a California Environmental Quality Act analysis, which can take several months. 

“It allows us to apply for future Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) funds and state emergency funds,” Sedoryk adds. “In a pandemic like this, government services need to be able to react quickly.”

With colleges and certain tourist attractions closed, certain unnecessary routes have been cut. For a list of changes you can visit the MST webpage. 

Sedoryk says MST has also been attempting to not lay-off workers even though they are providing less services. “I’m using workers who may not have routes to run right now in transit stations to encourage social distancing as people wait,” he says. 

Meanwhile, the city of Monterey announced on March 23 it would install a sanitation station at the Monterey Transit Plaza, where people who are unsheltered tend to congregate.