All on board with bus safety?

“We are joined together with our other transit agencies in implementing all the components of the Healthy Transit Plan,” said Jim Hartnett, general manager of SamTrans and executive director of Caltrain, at a press conference. “Every element of the plan is truly important.”

The plan requires transit employees and passengers to wear face coverings and maintain social distancing of at least 3 feet and ideally 6 feet. Agencies must also disinfect vehicles daily, encourage touchless payment methods and notify employees if they have been “possibly exposed to a suspected COVID-19-positive person to allow them to take appropriate action.”

Some SamTrans bus operators and their union representatives acknowledge such notifications are happening, but not soon enough.

In multiple cases, SamTrans operators had tested positive for COVID-19 and it took as long as two weeks for other operators potentially exposed to the virus to be notified, said Miguel Navarro Jr., president of A.T.U Local 1574, which represents SamTrans operators.

“[SamTrans] is telling us it cares about the safety of the employees but why aren’t they being transparent?” he asked.

Ronald Smith, a longtime SamTrans bus operator, expressed similar concerns and said he’s never been provided information about testing among employees. He wants all employees told exactly how many of them have been tested and how many tested positive.

“I want all that information so I can make an informed decision about the level of risk I’m willing to take,” he said. “They don’t tell you anything. … I think there’s a lack of transparency and a lack of concern for the health and safety of operators and the public at large.”

Navarro and Smith also said the union isn’t always notified when employees test positive nor was the union involved in the development of safety standards.

“We’re supposed to be equal partners,” Smith said. “The union should be part of that process.”

Navarro said many bus operators share the above concerns, but are afraid to express them on the record.

SamTrans spokesman Dan Lieberman disputed the claims and described robust testing protocol at the agency.

“The district has a policy of quickly identifying who could have been exposed and informing them so adequate precautions can be taken,” he said, adding “there have been requests to identify which of our employees have tested positive, but doing so would be illegal.”

Instead, the district developed a contact tracing procedure to notify employees that have potentially been exposed to an infected employee, Lieberman said.

After a notification of a positive test, Human Resources, operations and safety staff quickly work to determine which employees have been in proximity of the positive employee and make the proper notifications to their colleagues and the union, he added.

“Thus far, these notifications have gone out either the same day or the day after we were informed of a positive test, giving us enough time to determine who could potentially be affected,” he said, adding if a “close contact” is determined, quarantine instructions are issued to all affected parties.

Lieberman confirmed a total of six operators have tested positive thus far and said “to date there is no indication that a district employee has contracted COVID-19 from another employee at the workplace.” As of January, there are about 300 operators in the system.

Navarro and Smith also described the “Riding Together: Bay Area Healthy Transit Plan” as insufficient, particularly the 3-foot minimum social distancing standard.

“Three feet is not enough it should be a minimum of 6 feet,” Navarro said, noting 6 feet is the CDC standard. “None of the Bay Area transit unions are on board with that.”

Lieberman countered the plan clearly states 6 feet is the “optimal” distance when possible and said it acknowledges “the World Health Organization, as well as multiple transit agencies around the world, are implementing a 3-foot standard, and that this standard has proven to be successful when combined with a mask requirement.”

“We still recommend staying 6 feet from others whenever possible, and we are working to provide enough capacity to allow for appropriate physical distancing,” Lieberman said.

zachary@smdailyjournal.com

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