USDOT BLOG:
Making public transit safer
during COVID-19 outbreak
By U.S. Secretary of Transportation Elaine L. Chao
Originally posted on the USDOT blog
Transportation systems are always important for communities and
our country, and never more so than during a crisis. That’s why so
many at the U.S. Department of Transportation are working overtime
to respond to the ongoing COVID-19 (coronavirus) situation affecting
the U.S. and the world.
The Department’s Federal Transit Administration (FTA), for
example, is working closely with local transit authorities to free up
resources to help them deal with COVID-19. Every year, Americans
use mass transit to take more than 10 billion trips. FTA is taking steps
to make more resources available to local transit authorities to fund
cleaning efforts and other measures to reduce the spread of COVID-19.
The Department supports urban and rural transit in large part
through formula transit funding, as established by Congress. The
Federal share of expenditures for preventative maintenance is
capped at 80 percent. This can include measures to protect health
as well as safety.
However, personal protective equipment, such as face masks,
gloves, or hand sanitizer have long been treated as an operating
expense. Large operators are not normally allowed to cover operating
expenses with any of their Federal formula funding. Smaller and rural
operators can use federal formula funding to cover only half of their
operating expenses.
If a governor declares an emergency and the Department concurs,
the FTA Emergency Relief Program (49 USC 5324) lets transit agencies
in those states use their urban and rural transit formula funding
to pay up to 80 percent of the cost of activities aimed at containing
COVID-19. This will unlock billions of dollars to keep transit systems
safe for riders.
This funding fl exibility will help transit operators implement pre-
ventative measures. These include performing enhanced cleaning and
sanitizing of trains, buses, stations, bus shelters and more. It will also
include placing hand sanitizer dispensers in high traffi c areas and
providing personal protective equipment as appropriate.
Local transit agencies can also request other relief from Federal
requirements by making a request through the Federal Transit Ad-
ministration’s Emergency Relief Docket.
These are among many actions the U.S. Department of Transpor-
tation is taking to help keep Americans safe and keep our Nation’s
transportation systems operating at a high level.
Of course, these preventative measures are most effective when all
of us do our part, by avoiding public spaces if we are sick, washing our
hands frequently, and following the guidance of health experts.
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