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A new article by researchers at New York University looked at data from 121 cities across the country over a 10-year period and found that the number of people dying from the flu was not increasing in cities where the number of ridership of public transport was higher. The authors of the report suggest that public transport is not a major vector for the spread of viruses.
“We found that using public transportation is not a particularly important factor in influenza transmission,” said Mitchell Moss, director of the NYU Rudin Center for Transportation and one of the report’s authors.
Moss said that with the use of the mask high in the subway, at over 90% compliance, according to the MTA, the culture of subway riders also helps prevent the spread on public transport.
“I’m much more concerned about the congestion in the elevators than in the subway where we know people are looking at their iPads, playing video games and looking away from people,” he said.
The new study comes as New York City subway ridership remains, on average, about 70% below pre-pandemic levels, leaving the MTA with a crippling budget crunch due to lost ridership. The agency is doing everything it can to assure passengers that it is safe to take the metro and bus, as long as the passengers are wearing masks.
The NYU report follows other recent academic studies on viruses and transit, which show that transit in crowded urban cities is not the medium by which viruses are spread. The latest CDC guidelines suggest that the coronavirus is mainly spread by people who are in close contact with each other.
The study does not conclude that people who use public transit are more or less at risk than people who do not use it.
“However, despite widespread concerns about the role of public transport in the spread of respiratory disease, our results suggest that the rate of use is not a particularly important factor in the local prevalence of influenza,” the document notes. .
The MTA welcomed the findings of this report.
“This is the latest in a cascade of scientific reports showing that transit is not a vector for the spread of respiratory disease, and there has been no serious evidence worldwide linking the transit routes and the spread of this virus, ”MTA spokesperson Meredith Daniels wrote. declaration.
Despite the wisdom of this research and scientific evidence, the MTA continues to shut down the metro overnight between 1 a.m. and 5 a.m. for an expensive deep clean. Experts say touching surfaces is not the primary way the coronavirus is spread. The agency estimates that it is disinfecting 5,000 subway cars a day, as well as stations, at a cost of $ 500,000 this year, and probably next year it will cost the same.
“The MTA continues to lead the way in its response to the pandemic – from aggressive cleaning and disinfection, to prescribing masks for all customers and employees and to deploying innovative air filtration technology in our system. Daniels wrote in response to a question about the cleanup efforts.
Although cyclists are unlikely to catch the virus on their commute, workers at MTA are still concerned about the second wave, after losing 128 people to the virus this year. Workers are constantly concerned about the disrespect of the mask on the part of their co-workers and fear that small crowded rest rooms are places where the virus can spread.
To address these concerns, the agency has implemented rapid tests at some work sites for employees and offers free tests at other clinics. The positivity rate of MTA workers remains well below the city average, at less than 1%. There are also trailers at some terminals to allow workers to take breaks.
As for runners, the MTA said airflow in subways is comparable to that in healthcare facilities, with the rate of charges exchanged 9 and 18 times per hour, “exceeding the rates minimum air exchange per hour cited by the CDC for some for certain health care facilities, ”wrote a spokesperson for the MTA. Metro-North is being piloted with new virus filters that provide fresh air 30 times an hour.
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