AC Transit to sanitize buses daily as coronavirus precaution

Officials with the Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District said Monday they are taking precautions to reduce the risk that riders and employees will contract COVID-19.

AC Transit has 53 million riders each year and nearly 2,300 employees and made the announcement following inquiries to the agency.

As of Monday evening, only one case of the virus had been reported in Alameda County and no confirmed cases existed in Contra Costa County.

One repatriated person is quarantined in a hospital in Contra Costa County. AC Transit officials said the virus has not been transmitted on any public transit systems.

Nevertheless, AC Transit buses and facilities will be sanitized each day. Buses will be sanitized at the end of the day.

The agency is also making personal protective equipment available to workers to use on a voluntary basis. Equipment includes gloves and masks.

Hand sanitizer dispensers and individual bottles will be at all AC Transit facilities and the agency will be starting an education and awareness campaign for employees.

BART officials said Monday that public health officials have advised them that no operational changes are needed on BART.

“That being said, we have plans in place should a recommendation be made calling for operational changes,” BART spokesman Chris Filippi said.

Filippi said the agency has long-standing plans “related to communicable diseases” and “we’ve adapted those plans to ensure they are current.”

Officials with Caltrain and the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency did not respond to a request for information on what they’re doing to protect riders.

In December, about 652,000 boardings occurred on an average weekday on the SFMTA’s San Francisco Municipal Railway buses and trains. Average mid-weekday ridership on Caltrain was estimated at 63,597 in 2019.