CDC Says Cars Are Better Than Mass Transit during COVID-19 Crisis

[brooklynite]

Car & Driver

You don't need us to tell you that this is a different and often difficult situation we're in during this coronavirus pandemic. Between the widespread lockdowns that, let's hope, are behind us and the gradual reopening ahead, people will start moving and interacting more as we all wait for a vaccine. That's going to be difficult. What we care about most, of course, is what this means for cars and driving.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is offering updated advice for dealing with the pandemic, including new recommendations for people who work in offices. Some are straightforward and could be easy to implement, like wearing face masks and holding small meetings and lunch outside when possible (good thing summer's on the way). But other recommendations will be difficult to implement, if not impossible. How is "maintain[ing] social distancing of at least six feet" inside an elevator going to work, for example?

During the day on Sunday, the CDC adjusted its recommendations to clarify that they are "if feasible," and that it doesn't object to people "driving or riding by car either alone or with household members." It also added a suggestion that employees be told to follow CDC guidance on "how to protect yourself when using transportation" if they found it necessary to use public transport methods.

There's also a change in where an employer's responsibility to their employees starts. The CDC says—and OSHA would agree—that "employers are responsible for providing a safe and healthy workplace." But what about getting to and from work safely? That wasn't necessarily in the employer purview before COVID-19 hit, but now the CDC is looking at the ways we commute to keep all workers safer. In short, it recommends private cars over public transportation.

The recently re-opened New York Stock Exchange WILL NOT allow employees on the floor to come to work on public transportation.

[sfstaxprep]

1. No Shit...

Wow, I'm glad they get paid the big bucks to provide such sound advice.

[exboyfil]

2. So you need an expensive car to get to a crappy minimum wage job

The math barely worked for mass transit. It is shocking how much it costs to keep even a beater on the streets. That is a big reason why my wife and I went down to one car when my Cavalier reached its economic end of life. My daughter, who had been driving it to work, then had to spend $20K on a 2 year old car to get to work as a nurse (she might have gotten away with something less, but she has to have an absolutely reliable car given her distance and the neighborhood she has to go through to get to work).

[dsc]

3. so now think of schools

school buses or other forms of public transport are the primary mode of transportation for certainly middle schools and the lower high school grades. They are likely a leading form for everyone else.

[frazzled]

4. Well, right now where I live

you can't use public transit to get into the city center, where a huge number of people (pre-COVID) work each day, anyway. Mayor Lightfoot has ended all mass transit trains and buses into the central city for about a 4-mile radius, because of the protests. So walking, car, or bicycle is about the only way you're going to get around. Good thing it's summer. Still, there's very little open in that area anyway; most are still working from home, except for essential jobs.

When things do start up again, my spouse, who works downtown and usually takes the train, will probably just walk. Takes about 25 minutes, so not too bad. He does not want to risk taking the train, and he can't bike because they don't allow bicycles to be brought into the building. And he will never leave his beloved road bike outside.