Facing worker shortages, nation's biggest transit system cuts service
Source: Politico
The nation’s largest mass transit system is drastically reducing service levels as its ridership numbers plummet due to the coronavirus and worker shortages cause service delays.
More than 800 trains were delayed due to crew shortages on Monday alone, according to Sarah Feinberg, interim president of the MTA's New York City Transit division, which runs the city's buses and subways.
Fifty-two of the MTA’s 70,000 workers have tested positive for Covid-19. The authority was unable to say how many others are in quarantine, how many are merely calling in sick and how many are sick but have yet to get tested. “Obviously, it’s greater than 52,” said MTA Chairman and CEO Pat Foye during a news conference Tuesday.
Danny Pearlstein, the policy and communications director at the Riders Alliance:
“Many of the New Yorkers taking buses and subways right now are essential workers,” he said. “Majorities of all healthcare, childcare, and grocery workers depend on transit. Without them on the job, our crisis response will fail. The MTA should make every effort to maintain service. The federal government must deliver a multibillion dollar rescue for riders.”
Read more: https://www.politico.com/states/new-york/albany/story/2020/03/24/facing-worker-shortages-nations-biggest-transit-system-cuts-service-1268846
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