Public transportation ok to take?

March 12, 2020 5:14 AM

In the time of corona, is it safe to take public transportation? I don’t live in NYC and the transportation isn’t as widely used as there, but I’m still nervous.

I’m lucky to have the option of taking a car, for now, but it’s costing me a lot more to drive when I would normally take the bus. I’m about to have to take my car to the shop for some major repairs too, so I’ll be out transportation for 1-2 days (and I live too far away to take a Lyft) so unless I find a carpool, I’ll have to take a bus again. My job has not allowed us to work from home yet, despite our state declaring a state of emergency. We have 30 confirmed cases I think throughout the state.

I read that they’re cleaning the buses really well and they’re safe and then other articles that say don’t do it. What would be recommended here? And if in the end I do have to take it, do I have to take any other extra precautions I should take other than wash my hands and don’t touch face?

posted by buttonedup to Travel & Transportation (18 answers total)

My opinion: I take transit every weekday and sometimes weekends as well. It's harder on a bus (I mostly ride the subway), but you could wear gloves, try not to touch things in general/not to touch your face, and if it's not too crowded, sit as far from others as possible. It's less safe than not doing it, but if you're going to work anyway, it's probably not that big a deal if you clean your hands afterwards.
posted by wellred at 5:27 AM on March 12, 2020 [1 favorite]

Keep your distance from other bus users where you can, particularly if they're coughing. Stay away from elderly people as much as possible - remember that the underlying reason for taking precautions is to minimise transmission to the people who are likely to experience worse symptoms than you.
posted by pipeski at 5:46 AM on March 12, 2020

I take public transport and feel reasonable ok doing so, taking the following precautions:

Travelling at less popular times so I never have to sit next to anyone, preferably a full row away.

I am very conscious not to touch my face at all until I have washed my hands.

I wear a long coat that I take off immediately at my next location. This is probably unnecessary but I feel better being able to remove the layer actually touching the seats.

I wash my hands immediately I get to work.

I'm not at high risk though, if I was I would not take public transport.
posted by stillnocturnal at 5:49 AM on March 12, 2020 [2 favorites]

Ideally you'll be able to still keep your distance from people, especially from someone with obvious illness. Personally, I drive to work (live in the city, work in the burbs) but normally take public transportation anywhere I go in the city. We live along a crowded subway line and I just try to go to the least crowded spot - away from the doors where people are getting on/off, in the middle of a car. Then wash my hands and/or use hand sanitizer ASAP.
posted by DoubleLune at 5:55 AM on March 12, 2020

I live in Singapore, we've been dealing with COVID-19 for a month or so now, and I've been taking public transport daily. I mentioned this on the coronavirus meta, posting the contents here:

So FWIW, our (Singapore) government's official stand is that the virus is unlikely to spread via public transit. So far there have been no cases here linked to public transit, and as a city where the majority of people take the train daily, that might suggest they are right. You'd need prolonged close contact with a carrier to get infected, hence all the cases have been due to events like meetings, dinners, etc.

I still take public transport, and I just try very hard to avoid touching anything and making sure I wash my hands once I reach my destination. I also came up with a little trick: I've designated my left hand my "clean" hand, and I only use it to hold my phone (I type with one hand) or touch any part of my face. My right hand is the dirty hand and is used to touch everything else, like handle bars and doors.

posted by destrius at 6:01 AM on March 12, 2020 [13 favorites]

So, I just took public transit (subway) to the hospital to visit my immunocompromised husband, even though we have a car, and even though traffic is very light due to people staying home (so that the travel time is roughly equal). I got a seat and didn’t have to touch any grab bars or anything. Sick people seem to be staying home, and lots of other people besides. No one was coughing. Of course I washed my hands as soon as I got to my destination. Maybe I would feel differently if I had to touch anything. I felt like I was able to practice pretty good social distancing on the subway.
posted by mskyle at 6:42 AM on March 12, 2020

I am a daily NYC subway rider (although not far). I try to stand so i have more freedom to move away from people, pick less busy cars and avoid touching things by leaning and using a wide stance (this is much harder to do on very full trains which is why ive tried adjusting my schedule a bit). and really really focusing on not touching my face.

One observation id make is that the folks i see on the trains with the most visible countermeasures are also frequently doing the dumbest shit - wearing disposable gloves really only proves the point about hand washing - if everything you touched with those gloves on is now also contaminated by whatever you wanted to keep off your hands, but no one is throwing away their purse straps or phones when they get to their next destination.

In discussion with some friends last weekend who have also been living here and taking the trains daily for about a year, we agreed that the inside/outside cleanliness distinction is pretty ingrained and that we all sort of instinctually washed as soon as we got off the train anyhow.
posted by Exceptional_Hubris at 7:11 AM on March 12, 2020

I work at a transit agency in the US. We are doubling our efforts to clean vehicles. I'm still taking transit with no reservations, but absolutely pay attention to updates in case that changes.
posted by look busy at 7:22 AM on March 12, 2020 [1 favorite]

What are your alternatives? Driving by yourself for a lengthy period of time has significant accident risk, and cabs/ubers/lyfts are going to have infection risks that aren't obviously in a lower order of magnitude than buses. (For example, no one is making sure that Ubers are cleaned, and Uber drivers don't have paid sick leave, unlike public bus system drivers.)
posted by MattD at 7:41 AM on March 12, 2020 [2 favorites]

I take the subway and/or a bus every day. I'm avoiding touching surfaces, forcing myself to not touch my face, and washing my hands when I get to work. I'm not having any difficulty avoiding being coughed on.
posted by desuetude at 8:00 AM on March 12, 2020

Still taking public transit in NYC. It’s good to take precautions but it is unclear whether public transit is more dangerous than anything else: https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/z3bw85/dont-let-coronavirus-scare-you-away-from-public-transit
posted by ferret branca at 8:07 AM on March 12, 2020

Philadelphia bus rider here. Many of the people who ride the bus during times like this are elderly and/or ill because it's the only transportation option they have. Coughing is par for the course. If you avoid taking the bus during peak times, off peak times when older people are going to the doctor, and off peak times when kids are getting out of school, you should be fine . . .
posted by Peach at 8:16 AM on March 12, 2020

If you do drive a car remember when gassing up that the pump handle is one of the germiest things known to man. Wash up after pumping gas if at all possible. Otherwise, use hand sanitizer if you can get it.
posted by sjswitzer at 8:19 AM on March 12, 2020

South Jersey to Philadelphia PATCO train rider here. I am washing my hands thoroughly before I leave the house, keep a bottle of hand sanitizer in my tote bag and use it as I enter the train station and as soon as I leave again, then wash my hands again as thoroughly as possible. There is no possibility of standing or sitting away from people, the trains are still pretty packed during rush hour. Just a note, literally this week, it seemed that there was nonstop coughing and sneezing and nose blowing going on.

Just hoping for the best.
posted by HeyAllie at 9:58 AM on March 12, 2020 [1 favorite]

If I'm travelling around on transit, I use hand sanitizer after getting off. However, if I'm immediately proceeding into a building where I can wash my hands (home and work), I generally do that. If I had the option to travel by car, I probably would, but I wouldn't (and haven't) not go to work just to avoid the subway. I have been coming in and leaving a little to avoid the worst of the rush hour, but realistically that car is not being cleaned between 9:30 and 10:15, so I'm not sure if that helps much at all.
posted by praemunire at 11:01 AM on March 12, 2020

If I were in your shoes, I would take the bus for the 1-2 days my car was in for repairs, but otherwise use my car.
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 11:08 AM on March 12, 2020

Response by poster: Thanks for all the answers! I will take the bus then with regular precautions. If it gets worse, definitely will move towards taking my car until things hopefully improve.
posted by buttonedup at 11:51 AM on March 12, 2020

I thought I should note that my experience is within the context of Singapore, and the right thing to do will vary depending on the situation where you are. In particular, it seems that COVID-19 is generally less virulent in warmer weather, and Singapore is a tropical country, so perhaps that is one reason why the virus spreads less easily here. Good luck and stay safe!
posted by destrius at 6:30 PM on March 12, 2020