04.08.20

Cantwell, Colleagues Urge Trump Administration to Ensure Transit Workers Receive Essential Protective Equipment, Updated Safety Guidelines

More than 25 transit workers have died of COVID-19 nationwide, including a Snohomish County Community Transit driver

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA), the Ranking Member of the Senate Commerce Committee, joined Senator Gary Peters (D-MI) and 19 of their Senate colleagues in urging the Trump Administration to ensure that transit agencies can acquire personal protective equipment (PPE) for their workers, and that more robust safety precautions are put into place for workers on the front lines.

In their letter to Acting Administrator of the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) K. Jane Williams, the senators noted that while FTA guidance issued last Thursday did not recommend the use of PPE, since then, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued new guidance recommending that members of the public cover their face with cloth when in public. “We believe FTA should explicitly update its guidance and proactively provide support to help transit agencies acquire PPE and provide it to their workers,” the senators wrote.

Tragically, more than 25 transit workers nationwide have died as a result of COVID-19, including Snohomish County Community Transit driver Scott Ryan, who passed away of COVID-19 on March 26, two weeks after testing positive for the disease.

As part of the recently-passed Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act., Congress appropriated $25 billion to ensure transit agencies remained operational and Americans—including frontline health care workers, law enforcement, first responders, and other safety personnel—do not lose access to reliable transit during the COVID-19 pandemic, and to ensure frontline transit workers have access to personal protective equipment (PPE). “In the brief time since Congress passed this historic funding, we have already seen the tragic death of frontline transit workers as a result of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19),” the senators wrote.

The senators urged FTA to work with transit agencies to ensure that buses, trains, streetcars, and worker facilities are regularly disinfected, rear-door boarding is practiced, safety precautions are taken to protect transit workers from touching the same digital screen, transit riders are encouraged to observe social distancing and cover their faces with protective implements, and front line workers are afforded death benefits.

In addition to Cantwell and Peters, U.S. Senators Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Kamala Harris (D-CA), Edward Markey (D-MA), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Bob Casey (D-PA), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Robert Menendez (D-NJ), Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Michael Bennet (D-CO), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Ben Cardin (D-MD), Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Jacky Rosen (D-NV).

The full text of the letter is available HERE and below.

Dear Acting Administrator Williams:

As you know, Congress appropriated $25 billion in emergency funding in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act to ensure Americans—including frontline health care workers, law enforcement, first responders, and other safety personnel—do not lose access to reliable transit during the Covid-19 pandemic, and to ensure frontline transit workers have access to personal protective equipment (PPE). We appreciate the work of you and Federal Transit Administration (FTA) staff in adhering to the very tight timeline we provided to get this immediate financial relief to transit agencies across the nation. We write to request further assistance in ensuring transit agencies receive federal support in acquiring PPE and in updating your guidance to transit agencies to ensure more robust safety protections are put in place for frontline workers.

In the brief time since Congress passed this historic funding, we have already seen the tragic death of frontline transit workers as a result of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19). Jason Hargrove, a bus driver in Detroit succumbed to the virus after sharing with the world his experience of a passenger who refused to cover his mouth while coughing on the bus. In New York, more than a dozen transit worker deaths have been attributed to COVID-19, and nationally estimates are more than 25 transit workers have died as a result of COVID-19.

The Guidance FTA issued last Thursday, noted that FTA did not recommend the use of PPE at that time. Since then, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued guidance recommending members of the public cover their face with cloth when in public. We believe FTA should explicitly update its guidance and proactively provide support to help transit agencies acquire PPE and provide it to their workers. Further, we urge FTA to work with transit agencies to ensure:

  • buses, trains, streetcars, and worker facilities, including crew rooms are regularly disinfected;
  • rear-door boarding to maintain a safe distance between riders and transit operators, where feasible;
  • that safety precautions are taken to protect transit workers from touching the same digital screen, keyboard, or fingerprint-scanning device, e.g. for timekeeping purposes;
  • transit riders are encouraged to cover their faces with makeshift protective implements such as bandanas or scarves while riding public transit and that riders observe proper social distancing; and
  • brave front line workers are afforded death benefits.

Thank you for your timely attention to this.

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