Michigan City Transit's cheap and clever way of protecting bus drivers
When I was in Michigan City on July 3, I picked up a copy of the Michigan City News-Dispatch (RIP). And the headline on the top of the page had some startling news - five out of seven drivers tested positive for COVID-19, which forced it to cut back hours.
Michigan City isn't a large city, and I knew that its transit system isn't nearly as extensive as Pace, or even Gary Public Transportation Corporation. The first and only time my mom took one of their buses, she was struck by the fact that the buses' fare boxes were almost literal boxes you put money into. Pace could have five employees get sick and its barely a blip on the radar, but at Michigan City Transit... it struck me, right then and there, that it would be a great case study about how smaller transit systems can be hobbled by a relatively small number of infections.
It took me until August, but, to make a long story short, I wound up writing an article about it for Streetsblog Chicago. I found out that the numbers weren't quite as bad as the headline made it sound, but still pretty significant - five out of fifteen employees ended up having to quarantine. That's a third of Michigan City Transit's workforce. No wonder they had to cut hours.
As I wrote in the last post, I ended up taking Michigan City Transit on September 25, for the first time since the pandemic started. I knew from my interview for aforementioned article that the city was doing more to protect the drivers - but it was still a bit surprising to see the driver's seat and the fare box surrounded by something plastic.
In response to the pandemic, larger transit agencies like CTA and Pace put in plexiglass shields to protect their drivers. What I was looking at was clearly something different.
It took me a few minutes to realize that I was looking at a shower curtain.
And, honestly, I was impressed. Like I said, MCT is a small transit provider. It only has 12 buses. Unlike Pace, it couldn't get a bunch of shields in bulk, and the buses' layout would've made it harder to put in anything anyway. This was honestly a pretty cheap and practical solution, and I admire the out of the box thinking.
I just hope that it didn't get too warm for drivers during the summer.
Michigan City isn't a large city, and I knew that its transit system isn't nearly as extensive as Pace, or even Gary Public Transportation Corporation. The first and only time my mom took one of their buses, she was struck by the fact that the buses' fare boxes were almost literal boxes you put money into. Pace could have five employees get sick and its barely a blip on the radar, but at Michigan City Transit... it struck me, right then and there, that it would be a great case study about how smaller transit systems can be hobbled by a relatively small number of infections.
It took me until August, but, to make a long story short, I wound up writing an article about it for Streetsblog Chicago. I found out that the numbers weren't quite as bad as the headline made it sound, but still pretty significant - five out of fifteen employees ended up having to quarantine. That's a third of Michigan City Transit's workforce. No wonder they had to cut hours.
As I wrote in the last post, I ended up taking Michigan City Transit on September 25, for the first time since the pandemic started. I knew from my interview for aforementioned article that the city was doing more to protect the drivers - but it was still a bit surprising to see the driver's seat and the fare box surrounded by something plastic.
In response to the pandemic, larger transit agencies like CTA and Pace put in plexiglass shields to protect their drivers. What I was looking at was clearly something different.
It took me a few minutes to realize that I was looking at a shower curtain.
And, honestly, I was impressed. Like I said, MCT is a small transit provider. It only has 12 buses. Unlike Pace, it couldn't get a bunch of shields in bulk, and the buses' layout would've made it harder to put in anything anyway. This was honestly a pretty cheap and practical solution, and I admire the out of the box thinking.
I just hope that it didn't get too warm for drivers during the summer.