Triangle buses adjust to coronavirus: the ride is free, and please use the rear door
Four of the Triangle’s bus systems are dropping their fares today and asking riders to get on and off the bus using the rear door, away from the driver.
GoDurham, GoRaleigh, GoTriangle and GoCary say the changes are intended to enforce social distancing and reduce contact with frequently touched surfaces, such as the fare box. Exceptions will be made for riders who need to use the front door for wheelchairs, strollers or other mobility devices.
Chapel Hill Transit, which is already fare-free, is also having riders use the rear door to board and exit the bus.
Sean Egan, Durham’s transportation director, said the changes will help protect passengers but also drivers, who provide an essential service.
“GoDurham operators and all of our front-line colleagues face the same pressures as everyone else right now,” Egan said in a written statement. “They have families, kids out of school, loved ones with health concerns, and others may know someone already impacted by COVID-19. Despite these pressures, and despite understandable concerns, our workforce is showing up out of a sense of duty to the community.”
Egan said GoDurham will continue to operates as long as it is “safe and appropriate to do so.”
The bus systems ask that people stay home if possible but recognize that their riders include first responders, nurses, home health aids and other health care workers.
“The health and safety of our employees and customers during this emergency situation are paramount, and we are working to balance that conviction with the fact that GoTriangle is a critical transportation service for our community,” Shelley Blake Curran, GoTriangle’s interim president, said in a written statement. “GoTriangle is asking that everyone listen to the public health professionals and stay home if your trip is not essential.”
The Triangle’s bus systems also have made some schedule changes, in part because of reduced demand. GoDurham buses will now stop for the night at 9:30 p.m., instead of midnight, and Chapel Hill Transit is running its Saturday routes and schedule Monday through Saturday.
GoRaleigh has not announced any schedule changes yet, other than to cut back on its Wake Tech Express bus and end the R-Line downtown circulator bus at 6 each evening.
This story was originally published March 23, 2020 at 9:41 AM with the headline "Triangle buses adjust to coronavirus: the ride is free, and please use the rear door."
