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Returning to Work on the Subway? Here’s What You Need to Know. - The New York Times

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When the coronavirus pandemic swept across New York City, over 90 percent of the subway’s 5.5 million daily riders abandoned the system — an icon of urban crowding turned into a symbol of the threat that a deadly virus posed.

But now as some businesses begin to reopen Monday after nearly three months, and city life slowly rebounds, New Yorkers will trickle back to public transportation during their daily commutes.

Transit officials predict that as many as 15 percent of usual riders — or 825,000 people — are likely to ride the system during the first phase of the recovery, when manufacturing, construction and some retail businesses reopen.

The agency expects just over two million riders will use public transportation in the next phase when professional services, offices, real estate firms and additional retailers return to work — which could be as early as the beginning of July — and nearly three million people will ride by the third phase as restaurants, bars and hotels reopen.

On Friday, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which runs the city’s subway, buses and two commuter rails, outlined a sweeping plan to protect public health, including ramping up service and requiring mask usage.

Still, as riders flock back, even transit officials say that the social-distancing practices New Yorkers have adopted in recent weeks to help overcome the outbreak will probably be impossible on subway cars and buses.

“If you are going to reopen and you’re going to tell people to come back to work, you have to provide transportation for them,” said Sarah Feinberg, the interim president of New York City Transit. If six feet of distance between riders was mandated, “that means you can only serve a small percentage of your riders,” she added.

As you plan how to get to work in the midst of an ongoing public health crisis, here’s what you need to know:

Credit...Todd Heisler/The New York Times

Since the pandemic arrived in New York, public health experts have warned about the transmission risks involved in riding public transportation — a system built to carry large crowds of people in tightly packed, enclosed spaces.

In recent weeks, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released new guidance clarifying that the coronavirus does not spread easily on surfaces, like subway poles or seats.

But because subway cars are often crowded and poorly ventilated, they do pose a risk for spreading airborne droplets that can infect riders.

“If someone is infectious and is coughing and sneezing, and you don’t have ventilation, the concentration of that can build up over time,” said Joseph Gardner Allen, an assistant professor of exposure assessment science at Harvard University. “So you want to bring in more air to dilute that.”

The keys to mitigating the risk will be to reduce crowding, increase ventilation, expand disinfection regimens and ensure mask usage among riders. But achieving these goals will require a coordinated effort among transit and city officials, businesses and riders.

For instance, reducing congestion during peak hours requires that employers adjust workers’ schedules, the transit agency run as many trains as possible to expand capacity, city officials provide alternatives to the subway above ground and riders avoid taking the subway when possible.

The risks of riding can never be eliminated, but they can be somewhat reduced, experts say. In cities like Seoul, Berlin and Tokyo — where ridership on public transportation has begun to rebound to pre-pandemic levels — there have been no new spikes in coronavirus cases.

In preparation for an increase in riders, transit officials on Friday announced steps to encourage new riding etiquette and to increase service, which was reduced after ridership plummeted. The Tri-State Transportation Campaign, an advocacy group, plans to release similar recommendations this week.

“The steps that the M.T.A. outlined are in line with the science we are seeing right now,” said Nick Sifuentes, executive director of the Tri-State Transportation Campaign. “If the M.T.A. does what it is committing to, and riders do their part too, then we can keep transmission rates low even as we reopen.”

The subway will remain shut between 1 a.m. and 5 a.m. to allow for an intense cleaning and disinfection regimen that includes new ultraviolet technology..

Anyone riding the system is required by an executive order from Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo to wear a face mask, and additional police will be deployed to ensure compliance. The authority has also requested that riders who do not need to use the system to commute or travel to necessary appointments stay off the trains during crowded hours in the morning and afternoon.

To increase capacity, the subway will return to regular weekday service from its current reduced schedule. Buses in Brooklyn, the Bronx, Queens and Staten Island will also return to regular weekday service, while those in Manhattan will ramp up to 75 percent of their usual service.

On the commuter rails, Metro-North during peak hours will increase service to around 60 percent of its usual weekday schedule, while on the Long Island Railroad trains will run at 90 percent of normal service.

The M.T.A. is sending transit workers out across the subway system to report overcrowding in real time — information that they will provide to riders on a new data dashboard on the agency’s website.

The Coronavirus Outbreak

  • Frequently Asked Questions and Advice

    Updated June 5, 2020

    • How many people have lost their jobs due to coronavirus in the U.S.?

      The unemployment rate fell to 13.3 percent in May, the Labor Department said on June 5, an unexpected improvement in the nation’s job market as hiring rebounded faster than economists expected. Economists had forecast the unemployment rate to increase to as much as 20 percent, after it hit 14.7 percent in April, which was the highest since the government began keeping official statistics after World War II. But the unemployment rate dipped instead, with employers adding 2.5 million jobs, after more than 20 million jobs were lost in April.

    • Will protests set off a second viral wave of coronavirus?

      Mass protests against police brutality that have brought thousands of people onto the streets in cities across America are raising the specter of new coronavirus outbreaks, prompting political leaders, physicians and public health experts to warn that the crowds could cause a surge in cases. While many political leaders affirmed the right of protesters to express themselves, they urged the demonstrators to wear face masks and maintain social distancing, both to protect themselves and to prevent further community spread of the virus. Some infectious disease experts were reassured by the fact that the protests were held outdoors, saying the open air settings could mitigate the risk of transmission.

    • How do we start exercising again without hurting ourselves after months of lockdown?

      Exercise researchers and physicians have some blunt advice for those of us aiming to return to regular exercise now: Start slowly and then rev up your workouts, also slowly. American adults tended to be about 12 percent less active after the stay-at-home mandates began in March than they were in January. But there are steps you can take to ease your way back into regular exercise safely. First, “start at no more than 50 percent of the exercise you were doing before Covid,” says Dr. Monica Rho, the chief of musculoskeletal medicine at the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab in Chicago. Thread in some preparatory squats, too, she advises. “When you haven’t been exercising, you lose muscle mass.” Expect some muscle twinges after these preliminary, post-lockdown sessions, especially a day or two later. But sudden or increasing pain during exercise is a clarion call to stop and return home.

    • My state is reopening. Is it safe to go out?

      States are reopening bit by bit. This means that more public spaces are available for use and more and more businesses are being allowed to open again. The federal government is largely leaving the decision up to states, and some state leaders are leaving the decision up to local authorities. Even if you aren’t being told to stay at home, it’s still a good idea to limit trips outside and your interaction with other people.

    • What’s the risk of catching coronavirus from a surface?

      Touching contaminated objects and then infecting ourselves with the germs is not typically how the virus spreads. But it can happen. A number of studies of flu, rhinovirus, coronavirus and other microbes have shown that respiratory illnesses, including the new coronavirus, can spread by touching contaminated surfaces, particularly in places like day care centers, offices and hospitals. But a long chain of events has to happen for the disease to spread that way. The best way to protect yourself from coronavirus — whether it’s surface transmission or close human contact — is still social distancing, washing your hands, not touching your face and wearing masks.

    • What are the symptoms of coronavirus?

      Common symptoms include fever, a dry cough, fatigue and difficulty breathing or shortness of breath. Some of these symptoms overlap with those of the flu, making detection difficult, but runny noses and stuffy sinuses are less common. The C.D.C. has also added chills, muscle pain, sore throat, headache and a new loss of the sense of taste or smell as symptoms to look out for. Most people fall ill five to seven days after exposure, but symptoms may appear in as few as two days or as many as 14 days.

    • How can I protect myself while flying?

      If air travel is unavoidable, there are some steps you can take to protect yourself. Most important: Wash your hands often, and stop touching your face. If possible, choose a window seat. A study from Emory University found that during flu season, the safest place to sit on a plane is by a window, as people sitting in window seats had less contact with potentially sick people. Disinfect hard surfaces. When you get to your seat and your hands are clean, use disinfecting wipes to clean the hard surfaces at your seat like the head and arm rest, the seatbelt buckle, the remote, screen, seat back pocket and the tray table. If the seat is hard and nonporous or leather or pleather, you can wipe that down, too. (Using wipes on upholstered seats could lead to a wet seat and spreading of germs rather than killing them.)

    • Should I wear a mask?

      The C.D.C. has recommended that all Americans wear cloth masks if they go out in public. This is a shift in federal guidance reflecting new concerns that the coronavirus is being spread by infected people who have no symptoms. Until now, the C.D.C., like the W.H.O., has advised that ordinary people don’t need to wear masks unless they are sick and coughing. Part of the reason was to preserve medical-grade masks for health care workers who desperately need them at a time when they are in continuously short supply. Masks don’t replace hand washing and social distancing.

    • What should I do if I feel sick?

      If you’ve been exposed to the coronavirus or think you have, and have a fever or symptoms like a cough or difficulty breathing, call a doctor. They should give you advice on whether you should be tested, how to get tested, and how to seek medical treatment without potentially infecting or exposing others.

In some stations, floor marking and wall decals have also been placed to encourage social distancing. Hand sanitizing stations and mask vending machines are also being rolled out across the system, as is a pilot to test new air filters that can kill microbes, officials said.

To reduce overcrowding during peak hours, the agency has requested that major employers allow flexible start times for employees who must return to work, though the M.T.A. does not have the authority to mandate this.

The M.T.A. has also urged Mayor Bill de Blasio to add 60 miles of bus lanes — a 42 percent increase from the existing 144 miles — and step up enforcement to keep bus lanes clear in order to expand service and offer subway riders a viable alternative to the train.

Credit...Todd Heisler/The New York Times

While the transit agency bolsters the protections it can provide, public health experts recommend that those who ride public transportation adhere to the guidelines that have been repeated for all daily activities in recent weeks: wear a mask, do not touch your face and wash your hands as soon as possible after leaving the subway or a bus.

In stations, riders should walk to the areas of the platform that are the least crowded, board train cars that appear the most empty and plan extra time for their commute so that they can wait for an empty train if the first one to arrive is packed, experts say.

Riders should try to avoid touching poles by leaning against a wall or placing their feet apart to balance themselves. If you have to touch a subway pole, place a disinfectant wipe between your hand and the pole, advised Dr. Robyn Gershon, a professor of epidemiology at New York University’s School of Global Public Health.

“Once you start handling stuff, you could inadvertently contaminate,” said Dr. Gershon, who discouraged wearing gloves.

“Gloves get easily contaminated, and then you might touch your phone or MetroCard and it gets contaminated,” she said. Though surface transmission is not the main way the virus spreads, if you then touch your eye or touch your phone again without gloves on there is still a chance you might become infected.

Instead, she says riders should carry hand sanitizer and wash their hands as soon as possible once they leave the system.

Commuters should also think about using alternative modes of transportation — preferably those that keep them outside where the risk of transmission is lower than indoors.

“I would recommend thinking about alternatives that are feasible and realistic, especially active modes like walking or biking that are outdoors and means avoiding being in an enclosed crowded space,” said Krystal Pollitt, an assistant professor of epidemiology at the Yale School of Public Health.

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Returning to Work on the Subway? Here’s What You Need to Know. - The New York Times
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