FILE PHOTO: A man enters the subway station as a MTA worker disinfects the station in the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York, U.S., March 4, 2020. REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz
NEW YORK (Reuters) – The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) had little new advice to offer transit systems in the event they might have to shut down their commuter networks for the coronavirus outbreak in a conference call on Friday, but told operators they could find sanitation guidance on government websites.
In a conference call on Friday hosted by the U.S. Department of Transportation with more than 1,000 participants, K. Jane Williams, acting administrator of the Federal Transit Administration (FTA), said that while the agency “is carefully obviously monitoring the situation, we have not issued any directives or guidance on system shutdowns.”
As the number of U.S. coronavirus cases has risen, reaching more than 230 in 21 states as of Friday, mass transit agencies are scrambling to find ways to protect their ridership.
But Williams had little to tell transit agencies about cleaning and disinfecting regimens outside of steps taken by transit providers in Washington state, which has had a cluster of cases, and elsewhere.
“FTA does not have specific vehicle cleaning guidelines,” she said.
On the call, an official with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention encouraged transit agencies to work with local health departments and to clean “high-touch surfaces” once a day using products registered with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for their effectiveness against viruses.
On its website, the FTA has directed transit agencies to a CDC webpage that offers interim guidance for businesses. here
This week, New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority announced it was “significantly increasing the frequency and intensity of sanitizing procedures at each of its stations and on its full fleet of rolling stock.”
Reporting by Karen Pierog; Editing by Dan Burns, Tom Brown and Daniel Wallis