Public transit to remain up and running in San Mateo County

Visiting grocery stores, pharmacies and health care facilities as well as caring for elderly, minors or other vulnerable people are all examples of essential activities for which travelling on public transit is permitted.

Those riding public transit must also maintain the social distancing requirement of being 6 feet away from others to the greatest extent possible, said Sara Cody, Santa Clara County public health officer.

Just hours after the press conference, the region’s primary transit agencies confirmed regular service will continue, though Caltrain and SamTrans have slightly reduced service.  

Starting March 17, Caltrain will operate on a reduced peak-hour schedule as morning and afternoon peak hour service will no longer feature Baby Bullet service. Local and limited service will continue to operate as will off-peak service, including midday and weekend service. That means 70 trains instead of the usual 92 trains will be in operation on weekdays.

SamTrans is operating a non-school day schedule on weekdays. During the week, routes will not serve stops that are labeled “school days only” while weekend service and paratransit service will operate unchanged.

Since coronavirus fears began ramping up and work-from-home policies were mandated, the three transit agencies have seen ridership decline dramatically.

Last week, BART served 24% to 61% fewer riders depending on the day of the week, the agency announced Tuesday.

For Caltrain, one-way and day pass ticket sales have declined by about 75% from their levels two weeks ago and even more dramatic reductions in ridership are expected, officials said. The railroad relies primarily on fares to cover the system’s operating costs.

“We’re concerned about the financial impact of what’s going on for us,” said Caltrain spokesman Alex Eisenhart.

As of March 12, average weekday ridership on SamTrans decreased by about 19% compared to the previous week, with much of the decline coming from routes that largely serve students and commuters, Eisenhart said. Redi-Wheels, which is SamTrans’ paratransit service on the Bayside of the county, saw a 21% decline in average weekday between March 1 and 15, he added.

Some who have continued to ride Caltrain as recently as Monday said the above number is an understatement based on their experience.

“It’s like 95% vacant these days when it’s normally packed,” said Eileen, a San Carlos resident who preferred not to provide further identification. “Normally there are a lot of people at each station waiting and now you can count them.”

She and Daly City resident Nalisah Abdul-Aliyy said they still feel perfectly safe on Caltrain because there are so few riders, adding that the 6-foot social distancing requirement is easy to adhere to under such conditions.

“I don’t feel threatened at all. I’m real comfortable on Caltrain,” Abdul-Aliyy said.

Caltrain cars are cleaned daily according to standard practice and ticket kiosks are cleaned twice a day with hospital grade cleaning supplies, said Eisenhart, noting that each train car is equipped with bathrooms with sinks.

SamTrans buses are also cleaned daily with the same supplies and drivers are given hand sanitizer, but there’s insufficient supply to also provide it to riders, Eisenhart said.

BART has also increased cleaning and disinfecting in stations and trains, and staff are given hand sanitizer, germicidal wipes, face masks for positions that require them and other protective equipment.

To date, there have been no known riders on any of the three transit agencies infected with coronavirus.

Highways and bridges are also noticeably less congested due to coronavirus concerns. According to Caltrans data, there has been a 11.5% reduction in overall weekday highway traffic delays throughout the nine Bay Area counties between March 1-9 this year compared to last year. And According to the Bay Area Toll Authority, on Thursday there was a 25% reduction in peak vehicle counts on the Dumbarton Bridge and a 12% reduction on the San Mateo/Hayward Bridge compared to the same day one year prior.