Bus and train operators, maintenance workers, crews disinfecting vehicles, and the entire transit workforce are bravely moving millions of essential workers in the United States. Transit agencies and government officials handling the pandemic response must ensure that proper measures are in place to protect transit workers.

The COVID-19 pandemic presents a sudden, severe threat for transit agencies across the country. During this crisis, TransitCenter will be shifting our focus to the specific challenges posed by the virus.

TransitCenter’s year-end awards, The Frequencies, recognize outstanding work by transit agencies and city governments to improve transit service. This is the first year of the awards, which recognize achievements in eight categories.

In Richmond, transit ridership has gone up by 17% following a bus network redesign and the debut of The Pulse, a center-running busway with all-day frequent service on the system's trunk route.

The program is designed to facilitate operator feedback and engagement, and ensure that operators receive the same communication as members of the public.

In June of 2018, Austin launched a redesign of its bus network. Since then, ridership has increased 4.5%, making Capital Metro one of the few transit systems in the U.S. where ridership is on the rise.

In June, the MTA released a draft plan to redesign the Bronx bus network. There’s no doubt that the proposals will improve trips for bus riders. But given the gap between the current state of Bronx bus service and what Bronx bus service can be, is this plan as ambitious as it should be?

News recently broke that bus operators in Virginia are routinely forced to work 10 hours without a bathroom break. While this may seem the stuff of nightmares, it’s hardly unique to the transit industry.