COVID-19 related rail news for Friday morning:
— LA Metro will further reduce bus and rail service, moving to a modified Sunday schedule seven days a week. On Weekdays, Metro Rail will run every 12 minutes between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. and every 20 minutes at other times. Bus service will move to the regular Sunday schedule, with the addition of some Rapid, Express and Local bus lines that don’t normally run on Sundays.
— The New Orleans Regional Transit Authority will suspend overnight service on most streetcar and bus routes between 10 p.m. and 4 a.m. in its latest response to the coronavirus pandemic. WGNO-TV reports the agency continues to urge transit use for essential travel only and has suspended fare collection to aid in social distancing.
— New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority has begun checking employee temperatures in an effort to slow spread of the COVID-19 virus. MTA’s “Temperature Brigade” has begun using medically trained personnel to check the temperatures of New York City Transit, Staten Island Railway, Long Island Rail Road, Metro-North, and MTA police at 22 sites. Anyone with a temperature of 100.4 or higher is sent home and instructed to seek medical guidance. As of Wednesday, 41 MTA employees had died of virus-related causes and about 1,500 had tested positive for the virus.
— The Port Authority of Allegheny County will institute strict limits on the number of passengers who can ride a light rail vehicle or bus to ensure passengers have sufficient space for social distancing. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that, effective on Monday, operators will stop accepting riders when the number reaches the recommended limits of 10 riders on a 35-foot bus, 15 on a 40-foot bus, and 25 on a light rail vehicle or 60-foot articulated bus. The Port Authority has previously reduced service by about 25%
