HYANNIS – As an essential service, the Cape Cod Regional Transit Authority has made several changes to its usual operations to better deal with the coronavirus outbreak.
The CCRTA advices residents to adhere to the stay at home guidelines put forward by health officials, but is still offering transportation for those who have essential needs.
“There’s a lot less activity and traction around here, but we’re doing everything we think we should be doing and I’m happy that we’re doing it well,” said CCRTA Administrator Tom Cahir.
Ridership has declined significantly for the CCRTA compared to earlier this year.
The fixed-route from Hyannis to Orleans saw a reduction in ridership from 427 riders to 153 between February 27 and recently. That’s a drop of 66%.
On the Sea-Line from Woods Hole to Hyannis, it went from 579 riders to 176 or a drop of 73%.
The CCRTA has found that they are moving between 600 and 700 people a day through their fixed route and dollar-ride services, with most of those trips being work-related, medical, or grocery trips.
The fixed-route services have been reduced, but Cahir said that they are spacing them out throughout the day to make sure people still have access to them.
To protect their employees and riders, the CCRTA has been providing its workers with Personal Protective Equipment.
“We’ve had a lot of trouble acquiring masks. We want all of our drivers to wear masks. We even have now enough masks to offer them to the folks that ride our buses.”
Though it has been a challenge to acquire PPE given the national shortages, Cahir said that the CCRTA is still benefiting from a larger supply of PPE than their colleagues in other parts of the state.
The CCRTA has also acquired a sanitizing fogger machine that cleanses their equipment and facilities in Hyannis and Dennis, three times a week.
Cahir said that health and safety are paramount.
“We’re doing all the things that are appropriate and still providing the very important service to the many people who depend on us to get where they need to go in terms of work related matters,” he said.
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