A Public Health Order has been issued that requires Bay Area residents in six counties, including San Francisco, San Mateo and Santa Clara counties, to shelter in place as a result of the coronavirus (COVID-19). Public transit services, such as SamTrans, are identified as "essential" under the order and will continue to operate, however, use of public transportation is limited to essential required travel only.
SamTrans will continue to operate a non-school day schedule on weekdays. During the week, routes will not serve stops that are labeled as ‘School Days Only.’ Weekend service and paratransit service will operate unchanged. Ridership will be monitored closely to ensure that riders are able to practice social distancing in accordance with Center for Disease Control (CDC) guidelines.
Average weekday ridership has decreased by approximately 19% since COVID-19 containment efforts began.
SamTrans is maintaining daily onboard cleaning and sanitation protocols in compliance with Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) guidelines. In order to ensure the health of our staff, SamTrans is supplying hand sanitizer to bus operators as they do not have access to soap and water onboard.
SamTrans is also supporting critical health messaging by distributing brochures onboard all buses over the coming weeks with information from the CDC about how to minimize risk of exposure.
The public health order is intended to be in place until April 7, 2020, but may be extended or reduced.
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About SamTrans: SamTrans operates 70 routes throughout San Mateo County. Funded in part by a half-cent sales tax, the San Mateo County Transit District also provides administrative support for Caltrain and the San Mateo County Transportation Authority. SamTrans has provided bus service to San Mateo County customers since 1976.
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