MTA To Pay $500,000 To Families Of Workers Killed By COVID-19

Plus: Why Brian Lehrer (and others) are craving cars [View this email in your browser]( The MTA Will Pay $500,000 To Families Of Workers Who Die Of Coronavirus Plus: Buses are still dangerously overcrowded. Some dirt bike riders went for an Easter cruise through Manhattan. And what if loads of people become car commuters when the economy reopens? By [James Ramsay](mailto:james@wnyc.org?subject=We%20the%20Commuters) [MTA workers with gloves wipe down turnstyles] MTA The MTA announced this week that it will pay $500,000 to each of the families of workers that have died from COVID-19. The agency will also cover health benefits for the worker's spouse and dependents for three years. To date, 59 MTA workers have died from the coronavirus. With the exception of one Metro-North employee, all have worked on subways or buses. In addition, at least 2,200 workers have contracted the disease, and thousands more have been ordered to self-quarantine. MTA Chair Pat Foye said the money given to each family would not be not a "line of duty" payment, the type a public employee would receive if they were killed on the job. He was also adamant that families were not being forced to accept the money in exchange for not filing a lawsuit. He said this was part of a "family benefit program," and would come out of the MTA's operating budget. "Under the horrific, unexpected, and extraordinary circumstances of this pandemic, that is an appropriate thing to do given the loss of life that has occurred," Foye said. Three unions that work with the MTA endorsed this arrangement, including TWU Local 100, which has been vocally critical of the MTA’s treatment of workers during this time. Back in early March, transit workers complained that the MTA was telling them not to wear masks [because it could scare off riders](. Later, the agency started allowing employees to wear their own masks, but wouldn't initially distribute the ones [sitting in an MTA stockpile](. Next week, the MTA board will have to approve the payments to families, and the agency will outline the expected costs of the payments. The MTA also announced this week its employees who are symptomatic would be given priority for coronavirus testing at 50 Northwell Health facilities in New York state. Additionally, the agency will be [taking the temperature of workers]( allowing rear-door boarding on buses, and continue installing plexiglass at bus depots and facilities to protect workers from coming in contact with each other. — [Reporting by Stephen Nessen]( Are We Running The Buses All Wrong? [A Riders Alliance tweet saying that we need to run more buses towards hospitals and food/job centers]( We know that since coronavirus-related service cuts went into effect, [some MTA buses have been dangerously overcrowded]( — especially in the Bronx, where there's a higher concentration of nurses and other essential workers. But it's not like that everywhere. "I know I see what people have started calling 'ghost buses,'" [Brian Lehrer said on his show this week]( "buses with no passengers going down their routes. I’ve seen a number of those with my own eyes. "And yet, at the same time, we’re hearing these reports of some buses that are very crowded," he added. "Can bus service be reallocated?" In a recent [Daily News op-ed]( NYU transit scholar Eric Goldwyn wrote that "running a bus network is simple" — (maybe?) — and what the MTA now needs to do is run more buses to the essential workplaces where people are still going. "We should start by cutting service to office buildings and schools, usually high-demand locations, and focus service on health-care complexes, industrial clusters and commercial corridors with supermarkets and bodegas," he wrote. "Most likely, we will have to trim existing routes so that we can concentrate service where it really matters." When asked about this on The Brian Lehrer Show this week, MTA board member David Jones said that "given how fast-moving this thing is, [I assume] that the MTA is looking at the question of service provisions in areas that are most needed." But new challenges are arriving every day. With buses now free to board, riders have reported an uptick in apparently homeless individuals — who may have no other safe place to go — now filling up buses. And with drivers emerging as the MTA employee group [hardest hit by the pandemic]( some bus operators have taken to [cordoning off seats]( to give themselves safe spacing, which in turn enables overcrowding for riders. "I have to say, two of the most agonizing segments that we've had on the show in the COVID-19 era have been with [MTA leaders]," said Brian Lehrer. "Because it's not just a policy debate, where people can snap their fingers and say, okay, if we agree to do it, we're going to do it. "You don't have the personnel to space the subway schedules and the bus schedules in a way that would ease the overcrowding, which can be literally life-threatening," he continued. "You can change the schedules, you can adjust the schedules, you can look for peak ridership areas and reallocate bus service to a certain degree. But we're talking about an unprecedented condition of shortage, where shortage has to do not just with convenience, but with public safety." The Coronavirus Did Not Deter This Epic Dirt Bike Ride [Streetbike riders in Harlem fill a street over the weekend] David Cruz Last Sunday, as thousands of New Yorkers were at home taking in [a virtual Easter service]( more than 100 dirt bike enthusiasts were out on the open roads of Manhattan, making a lot of noise. Though dirt bikes are illegal to ride in New York City — and certainly illegal to ride on city sidewalks, which happened Sunday — many of the riders did appear to be wearing face masks, per the city's recommendation. The NYPD did not respond to any of our questions about Sunday's ride. Gothamist news editor David Cruz got a good video of it: [a video of dirt bike riders cruising through Harlem]( Here's What Else Is Happening A hit-and-run fatality in Jackson Heights on Tuesday marked the end of a 30-day streak without a pedestrian death in New York City. Police say a 29-year-old man was run over by an SUV shortly before 2 a.m., and the incident is now being investigated as a homicide. The 30-day streak was the longest recorded by the Department of Transportation since 1983, when it began keeping track of pedestrian deaths. DOT Commissioner Polly Trottenberg said the city normally averages 2 to 3 fatalities a week, but since the PAUSE orders went into effect, traffic, collisions, and the amount of pedestrians out walking around have all dramatically dropped. Speeding, however, has increased. ([QNS.com]( New York]( Mayor de Blasio said this week that he won't designate more car-free streets for outdoor recreation because he doesn't trust drivers to obey the law. He said that after [his tiny street closure pilot]( failed, New York City couldn't instead replicate a version of Oakland's 74 miles of car-free, social distancing-friendly streets because too many NYPD officers would be needed to enforce it. "[Oakland] just depended on drivers to not go on those streets, and everyone to look out and be careful and that’s noble," the mayor said, "but we are not comfortable saying that we are going to just assume that [drivers] are going to be safe." ([Streetsblog]( The head of a union representing NJ Transit conductors said he quit the agency's coronavirus task force because it's lying about train cleanliness. Jerome Johnson, the general chairman of SMART United Transportation Union Local 60, said that as NJ Transit was touting its effort to distribute masks, his union members weren't getting them. He also said he didn't believe train cleaners were being properly trained. "I’m not a union official who doesn’t want NJ Transit to succeed," he said. "My resignation should speak volumes." ([NJ.com]( NJ Transit CEO Kevin Corbett has the coronavirus. The agency confirmed Thursday that Corbett tested positive for COVID-19, but is "feeling well" and working from home. More than 100 other NJ Transit employees have also tested positive for the virus. MTA Chair Pat Foye and Port Authority Executive Director Rick Cotton have also contracted the illness. ([Morristown Daily Record]( What If 'Reopening' The Economy Prompts An Explosion Of Driving? [a pre-coronavirus traffic jam near the Williamsburg Bridge] Mary Altaffer/AP It's happening in Wuhan. The Chinese city of 11 million people, which became the early epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic, [has seen car sales take off]( in the weeks since dealers re-opened. And across China, traffic in early March was up compared to the same period last year. Some car dealers said that more households were purchasing smaller, second cars, suggesting that family members who previously used public transportation now felt safer driving. In New York City, there's been [some controversy]( recently over [a paper by an MIT economics professor]( alleging that the subway system "was a major disseminator – if not the principal transmission vehicle – of coronavirus infection" in New York City. But whether or not it's true that packed train cars were any more of a problem than other dense parts of the city — like people's cramped apartments, for example — it's possible that once non-essential employees are called back to their workplaces, many will feel uneasy about riding mass transit. "I've found myself craving a car over the last few weeks, thinking, that would give me a little more mobility," [Brian Lehrer said on his show yesterday]( during a conversation about how car culture may have benefited California's pandemic response. "Nobody would be touching my car but me. I wouldn't have the anxiety and the risk of riding the subway." In today's Bloomberg [Green Daily newsletter]( Nathaniel Bullard writes that for now, cities around the world are designating more roadways for pedestrians and cyclists, since car traffic is down and most people generally don't need to travel far. But once big cities start to reopen and commuters have to get to work, he writes that "personal car traffic will more than rebound — and that public transit will not." Weekend Service Changes: Night of April 17th – Early Morning on April 20th This is a partial list of major service disruptions scheduled for the weekend. For a complete list of the MTA's Weekender updates, [check here](. train service between 96 St and 148 St in Manhattan will be replaced by trains and M7 and M102 buses. There will be no trains running overnight. Weekend service operates between Dyre Av and Bowling Green. trains with run via the line in both directions between 21 St-Queensbridge and W 4 St. [Check here]( for complete details about the Long Island Rail Road. For NJ Transit, [check here]( for the latest service advisories. Upcoming Meetings and Events Wednesday, April 22nd Virtual meeting for MTA Board and Board Committees — 10:00 a.m. The MTA will collect public comments via video and phone on Monday, April 20th. Those who wish to participate will have the opportunity to register on Monday, April 20th, between 10:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m., online at [new.mta.info/virtualboardmeeting](. [a portrait of James Ramsay] James Ramsay can not do a wheelie on a Vespa. (Photo by Amy Pearl) Support WNYC + Gothamist Make a donation to support local, independent journalism. Your contributions are our largest source of funding and pays for essential transportation coverage and more. [Donate]( Copyright © 2020 New York Public Radio, All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: New York Public Radio 160 Varick Street New York, NY 10013 [unsubscribe]( [update preferences]( [privacy policy](