What to Know
- The MTA will, once again, begin charging passengers to ride buses at the end of the month, News 4 has learned.
- The measure, which will start taking place Aug. 31, comes after the MTA lost tens of millions of dollars in revenue by not charging bus passengers during the health crisis.
- Additionally, the MTA says they are safely retrofitting special plexiglass in every bus in the fleet to protect the bus operator as riders pay for their trips.
The MTA will, once again, begin charging passengers to ride buses at the end of the month, News 4 has learned. This comes after the transportation agency stopped charging bus riders throughout the height of the pandemic.
The measure, which will start taking place Aug. 31, will be implemented after the MTA lost tens of millions of dollars in revenue by not charging bus passengers during the health crisis.
Based on pre-pandemic projections the MTA lost $431 million by not charging on buses during the pandemic. Although in the end, the agency fared better than previously projected, they still lost millions of dollars. According to the agency, based on pandemic ridership the agency still lost $159 million.
Additionally, the MTA says they are safely retrofitting special plexiglass in every bus in the fleet to protect the bus operator as riders pay for their trips. Around 4,900 city buses are scheduled to get the new plexiglass barriers by Aug. 31 and 1,000 express buses (and Staten Island buses) will also have the barriers installed.
Throughout the pandemic, the MTA has implemented safety measures for both bus operators and bus riders.
In July, the MTA announced that it was launching a pilot program to mount dispensers of free masks inside buses for its riders in an effort to contain the spread of coronavirus. This announcement followed the launch of “Operation Respect,” a new MTA initiative with a “Mask Force” comprised of hundreds of volunteers distributing masks directly to customers throughout the subway, bus and commuter rail system.
To further protect customers, the State of New York has provided the MTA with an additional million masks for distribution, on top of the previous two million masks that were donated by the State of New York and the City of New York earlier in the COVID-19 pandemic.
