How did the MetroLink get affected by Covid-19?

    

How Did The MetroLink Get Affected By Covid-19

    The Metrolink has always been a crucial part of my childhood. I would take the Metrolink with my grandmother to downtown LA from Van Nuys and sometimes to Anaheim to visit my cousins. Without this publicly available transportation, my grandmother wouldn’t have had the ability to get to her daily destinations. I wouldn’t have been able to experience the memorable moments I had both with her and my family. The same can be said about all of those who depend on MetroLink to get from county to county or shorter distances. The official Metrolink website came out with a statement informing us that from 2018-2019 the Metrolink experienced an unprecedented amount of boardings of 11,935,358. This overtook the previous record of 11,796,086 boardings during the years 2008-2009


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    This finding alone shows the yield of traffic they have every year and its importance for travel. The Covid-19 lockdowns that struck California greatly affected everyone’s way of life as we know it. Those with such a dependency on the Metrolink, their way of life came to a screeching halt. When the Covid Lockdowns were put into effect in March 2020, Metrolink announced that ridership was down 80%, and as of Thursday, March 26th, the Metrolink will be operating with a reduction of service. Thousands of people are now unavailable to get to their jobs, schools, and other virtual destinations, which has impacted the people significantly. The Bureau Of Labor Statistics released a study showing that the unemployment rate jumped from 3% to a mind-numbing 15%, as well as a sharp decline in nonfarm employment payroll going from 152,000 to 130,000. This sharp spike was seen in the first month. Thousands are jobless and in poverty. 


    The American Public Transportation Association found that the majority of the people who use public transportation such as Metrolink have low incomes, which could be around $15,000-$49,999 a year and can’t afford their own vehicles on top of this a study conducted by Metrolink found that 32% of all passengers don’t have access to a personal vehicle.


    Covid significantly affects the poorer population compared to that of higher-income areas. With poverty rates as high as 30%, we see 49 infections per 1,000 residents. Since more impoverished people use the Metrolink combined with the fact they are more at risk of getting covid. There were a lot of measures to be taken to prevent the further spread of covid. 


    


    The Metrolink implemented new procedures for the general public to follow, such as requiring them to wash their hands for a minimum of 20 seconds, using face masks for the entirety of their travels, social distance up to six feet apart, frequent use of hand sanitizers, and more. This also affected the worker’s daily tasks. Metrolink confirmed that they increased the number of employees to keep the metro clean frequently. The workers would have to wipe down every seat, door, restroom, rail, table, and trashcans.

    Not all seats are taken up since social distancing has been implemented, which means fewer people riding and less income for the Metrolink. To target the populous who can and will ride the Metrolink started to change their schedules and started to introduce express services in San Bernardino so the people can get to Los Angeles quicker, cutting down on trains with low rider counts and adding more carts to trains with higher ride counts which in turn left some people out and more in. This took effect November 16th, 2020, and was announced October 31st, 2020, by Metrolink.


Bibliography

Reese, P. (2020, December 16). High-poverty neighborhoods bear the brunt of covid's scourge. California Healthline. Retrieved November 8, 2021, from https://californiahealthline.org/multimedia/high-poverty-neighborhoods-bear-the-brunt-of-covids-scourge/.

American Public Transportation. (n.d.). A profile of public transportation passenger demographics ... filecenter.santa-clarita.com. Retrieved November 8, 2021, from https://filecenter.santa-clarita.com/transit/APTA%20Passenger%20Characteristics.pdf.

Bureau Of Labor Statistics. (n.d.). The employment situation - U.S. bureau of labor statistics. www.bls.gov. Retrieved November 8, 2021, from https://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/empsit.pdf.

Link, M. (n.d.). Coronavirus updates. Metrolink. Retrieved November 8, 2021, from https://metrolinktrains.com/coronavirus-updates.

Link, M. (n.d.). Metrolink hits record ridership of nearly 12 million in fiscal year 2018-2019. Metrolink. Retrieved November 8, 2021, from https://metrolinktrains.com/news/metrolink-news/metrolinkhitsrecordridership/.













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