This quote is telling:
“After a month of staying locked down in the apartment, we had to find a way of at least getting out sometimes, and we weren’t comfortable taking transit or anything like that…I’m not that far from work, but I prefer to be in my car instead of concerned the entire trip.”
Prefer to be in my car instead of concerned.
I can’t help but think that post-pandemic, people won’t care about congestion or climate emissions. So your commute time doubles? No big deal. Urban sprawl takes off? Better to have space. The MIT study and the recent CDC recommendations are pushing transit into a corner.
Public transit agencies have to get ahead of this. They have to be innovative in their thinking to show real proof that a rider – as long as he/she follows the proper protocol, regardless of what other riders do – that after the intense disinfection procedures, will have a minimal risk of getting COVID-19.
It’s like one crisis (the pandemic) is influencing people to make – to be honest, very rational – decisions that will unfortunately exacerbate another (climate change).
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