Metrolinx has launched a new marketing campaign as it works to make customers feel safe amid a COVID-19 pandemic that has brought about significant reductions in public transit ridership.
Starting today, four GO buses have been decked out with a new wrap to make it appear as though they are see through.
The buses also carry the words “Clean from the inside out. Safety never stops.”
The idea behind the campaign, officials say, is so remind customers of all of the efforts Metrolinx is taking to help keep riders and operators safe.
“We are having a little bit of fun with this awful pandemic. We cleaning our buses so often that they are becoming see through is the message,” Metrolinx CEO Phil Verster told CP24 on Monday morning. “The serious point, though, is that we have no recorded cases of anyone getting infected on our buses nor on our trains and we are very proud of that.”
Metrolinx has introduced more than 40 different safety measures since the beginning of the pandemic, including a mandatory mask policy for customers and operators that officials say has a 95 per cent compliance rate.
So far there have been 22 staff members who have tested positive. That, however, is about half the number of cases reported by the TTC (146) when you adjust for the size of the two transit operator’s workforce.
“When you get on the buses there is hand sanitizer, we clean the buses with a deep clean every evening and during the day we have cleaners and mobile cleaning teams that clean on buses, on trains and at stations,” Verster said on Monday. “We very comfortable that we are doing everything we can.”
At one point earlier in the pandemic Metrolinx’s ridership dropped by an estimated 90 per cent, prompting it to dramatically scale back service.
In recent months, ridership has begun to recover and service has been increased on many routes though it is not yet anywhere near pre-pandemic levels.
