NEW HAVEN, Conn. — As COVID-19 continues to have a presence in the state, the Department of Transportation (CTDOT) and Lt. Governor Susan Bysiewicz handed out free masks to rail passengers in New Haven on Wednesday.
It's all part of an initiative to keep workers and riders safe and remind people that they must wear masks if they take public transportation. The DOT teamed up with MTA’s superhero Metro-Man to help push this message
The state especially wants to get the word out to young people.
“What we’ve seen is in recent days id a surge in the City of Bridgeport amongst young people primarily and we want to make sure we fight any future outbreaks,” says Lieutenant Governor Susan Bysiewicz.
CTDOT said they have seen more people start using public transportation once again.
“The bus system which initially dropped down to 50-60 percent...is back up to the 70 percentile. And we had to increase busing in some areas. Metro-North responds to what happened to New York City...it dropped down to 8 percent.. when NYC opened back up it jumped up at best 12 percent,” says Joseph Giulietti, says the Commissioner for the Department of Transportation.
CTDOT said they’ve already lost 2 bus drivers due to COVID-19. The agency says buses and trains are cleaned twice a day.
The DOT has also partnered with Yale University to improve air circulation inside its train cars.