How coronavirus is changing public transportation

Cities that have spent years trying to lure people out of their cars and convincing them to ride buses and trains are now begging them to do the opposite. Transit agencies are watching their revenues shrivel while trying to redesign their systems for the remaining few still riding them. For now, being starved of their ridership is a mercy: There’s no way they can handle pre-pandemic levels of use while keeping people at least six feet apart. “Everything is on the table,” said MTA Chairman Pat Foye in a recent interview with a local television station. That includes taking reservations for subway seats or “metering” to limit the number of people on a bus or in a rail station, he said.