18, indicating fewer cars on the road and less congestion.

on highways and expressways were 16 percent faster from Dec. According to a spokesperson for INRIX, a transportation data firm, weekday travel speeds in Suffolk County during the evening peak period of 4 p.m. People who drive around Boston appear to be staying off the roads during the surge, which also happens to have begun over the winter holiday season. “We’re seeing a lot of our members saying, ‘I was exposed,’ and the clinics are saying they have to wait at least a week for a test. Testing is key to keeping drivers on the job, said Jim Evers, president of the Boston Carmen’s Union Local 589. To help keep workers informed of their status, next week the MBTA plans to reopen a testing site at its maintenance facility in Everett that it shuttered in early December because of a lack of demand, said MBTA spokesperson Joe Pesaturo. Folks have really risen to the challenge.” “Long term it’s going to be challenging,” said Berger. On Tuesday, early-morning trips on two of the MVRTA’s buses were dropped, a log of dropped trips provided by Berger showed. He was one of seven drivers and one supervisor who were out because of COVID-19 infection last week, according to transit authority administrator Noah Berger. The driver ended the trip and headed back to the bus yard, where another driver working overtime picked up the next trip. It was two days after Christmas when a Merrimack Valley Regional Transit Authority bus driver got the bad news in the midst of driving his route between Andover and Lawrence: He had tested positive for COVID-19. The MBTA is not the only transit agency in the state having to nix trips. “The changes on commuter rail, we hope, is the extent of it,” said Poftak. Metro in Washington, D.C., will reduce weekday bus service to Saturday levels starting Monday.Īlso on Monday, the MBTA will reduce commuter rail service on the Haverhill Line and on the Worcester Line for at least two weeks due to COVID-19 absences.

The challenge is made more acute for agencies, like the MBTA, that were already facing severe staffing shortages before the Omicron variant began to take hold in mid-December.Ĭiting COVID-19 absences, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority in New York City suspended service on three subway lines this week. Transportation agencies across the country are juggling the shortage of healthy workers with trying to deliver reliable service to riders who depend on public transit.

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