Fares are coming back to King County Metro buses in October. The agency has been busy putting September service changes into effect and rolling out new onboard Covid-safety features. To lower transmission risk, Metro is not doing fare enforcement for the remainder of the year. Metro also has indicated programmatic changes in the longer-term budget; bus frequencies are decreasing to cut costs and grapple with revenue shortfalls.
Covid-safety improvements and fare collection
Earlier this month, Metro announced that the agency would be installing new automated flexiglass safety partitions at the front of 1,444 buses. The partitions separate the the bus operator from front entrance area. Metro says that the partitions are meant to reduce interactions between passengers and bus operators. So far 944 buses have been equipped with partitions as of Wednesday. Metro says 90% of buses will be equipped with the partitions by October 1st and 100% of buses by the following week.
The partitions are being build in-house and will be installed on all Metro buses, including those operated on behalf of Sound Transit. The individual unit cost of each partition is about $3,200, which is about half the cost of similar products from private vendors. Funding for the equipment is being provided from federal CARES funding allocated earlier this year for this type of emergency use.
In addition to the partitions, Metro has been installing face mask dispensers on 106 buses on seven of the busiest routes–including the RapidRide A and F Lines as well as Routes 7, 36, 43, 44, and 49–allowing for free use of them by riders who may not have their own on hand (riders are required to wear a face mask on Metro buses). The dispensers are capable of holding 150 masks each and staff are refilling them as needed. Other high volume routes will eventual get dispensers in the future, Metro says. Along with this effort, deep disinfection of buses is still occurring regularly.“With the addition of safety partitions–designed, engineered, and fabricated by Metro’s in-house vehicle maintenance staff–we have a new, first-of-its-kind innovation in the fight against this pandemic,” said King County Executive Dow Constantine. “Along with new mask dispensers and all the other safety measures Metro takes every day, we are proving Metro is ‘Ready when you are,’ whether you’re currently using transit or planning to resume your commute in the future.”Restoration of fare collection on Metro-operated routes has been largely contingent on improving bus operator safety at the front of buses where fare collection occurs on regular routes. As a result of the rapid partition installation, Metro has announced a firm date for fare collection restoration, which is set for October 1st. Fare collection will apply to all services operated by Metro, including Metro buses, Access paratransit, King County Water Taxi, Via to Transit, Seattle Streetcar, and vanpools. Normal fares will apply, though fare enforcement officers will not be checking fares through the end of 2020.
