Page 8 - Metra Fact Book 2021
P. 8

COVID-19 RESPONSE AND SCHEDULING                                                                                                                                                                                                   COVID-19 RESPONSE AND SCHEDULING



            OUR COVID                                                        TO ASSURE RIDERS THEY CAN COMMUTE                                                  OUR POST                                                        OUR ADJUSTMENTS WILL BE GUIDED
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                BY THESE PRINCIPLES…
                                                                             WITH CONFIDENCE WE ARE…
            RESPONSE                                                         01  Deep cleaning our more than 1,000 cars with                                    PANDEMIC                                                        Provide consistent and frequent service throughout the day

                                                                                 high pressure power washers, steamers and                                                                                                          •  Create regular headways throughout the service day
                                                                                 other disinfectants.
            Metra responded quickly and comprehensively                                                                                                         SCHEDULING                                                          •   Some peak trains may move to off-peak times to account
            to the pandemic, following federal, state and                    02  Practicing a new regimen of cleaning, sanitizing,                                                                                                    for new riding patterns
                                                                                 disinfecting and inspecting all cars at least once a day,
            local health guidelines to adopt stringent new                       with an extra emphasis on disinfecting high-touch areas.                      As ridership recovers from the pandemic and                      Establish easily understandable schedules with
            cleaning procedures and to encourage safe                                                                                                          grows, Metra is committed to adding cars                         memorable service patterns
                                                                                 Cleaning stations multiple times a week, with emphasis                                                                                             •   Create a few different types of train patterns on each line
                                                                             03
            behavior among customers and workers.                                on disinfecting high-touch surfaces.                                          to trains and trains to schedules to provide
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                Include new express service when possible
                                                                                                                                                               plenty of room for physical distancing. Metra
                                                                                 Safeguarding the air in our railcars with hospital-grade                                                                                           •   Create consistent zone-like service where possible
                                                                             04
                                                                                 MERV-13 air filters and now installing an even better                         also recognizes that schedules may need to                       Consider transfers both within Metra and other
                                                                                 three-stage air filtration and purification system. In                        look different to meet the changing needs of                     transit services
                                                                                 addition, air is replaced on railcars every 4 minutes.
                            Even with over                                   05  Requiring masks for the entirety of the ride on our trains.                   riders and the business community.                                   •   Schedules should allow for transfer between Metra
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      lines and other first- and last-mile services
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      (CTA/Pace/private shuttles)
                        6 MILLION                                            06  Asking everyone to practice physical distancing.                                                                                               Explore reverse-commute and new ridership markets

                                                                                 Providing riders with a ridership dashboard at                                                                                                     •   Could be more important post-COVID if reverse-commute
                                                                             07
                              RIDES,                                             metrarail.com/dashboard that shows how many                                                                                                          and suburb-to-suburb markets grow
                                                                                 riders are on trains.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                Promote regional equity
                        not a single COVID                                       Waiting in stations longer, so customers can stay seated
                                                                             08                                                                                                                                                     •   Schedules will consider low-income and minority areas
                                                                                 until their stop and still have time to get off.
                         infection has been                                                                                                                                                                                         •   Our goal will always be to provide affordable, reliable,
                                                                                 Offering new touchless hand sanitizer dispensers                                                                                                     safe and frequent service throughout our service area
                      traced to our service.                                 09  in every car.

                                                                                 Encouraging riders to use the Ventra app to minimize
                                                                             10
                                                                                 interactions with crews.





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