Bus Or Cab or Rideshare Or Subway

The Quarantine Zone
1

Next week I am on the skeleton crew where I work. This isn’t a big deal as I only live ten blocks from the place so I plan to walk. I usually do, unless it’s bitter cold or really hot, then I’ll grab a quick cab.

But I was thinking, if I did need to go further, what do you think is a better option. I have a choice of bus, rideshare or walking but I’d like to include other options like commuter trains, subways and bikes.
I was in Chicago last weekend and the buses were about a quarter full and the subways had about three people per car.

I know there are a lot of variables here, such as location, obviously NYC is different from Chicago or DC but I thought it might be helpful to myself or others to discuss what is the best alternative to avoid Covid19.

2

I took a bus to and from the grocery store Friday. 3:30pm to the store and 4:00 coming back. It’s usually quite busy on this route at those hours.

There was only 1 other passenger on the first bus, there was nobody on the second.

3

If there are few people on the bus or train do that. Six feet away from everyone is the goal, and you can’t do that with a cab or RideShare.

4

I live in a small 49er Gold Rush county ranging from Sacramento Valley lowlands to the Sierra Nevada crest. Our county bus system is still open and running but with routes canceled indefinitely to lowland prison and vineyard towns, and with lists of what and what not to do. Stops at postal and government offices and major shopping points remain. The Don’t do this list:
[ul]
[li] Hoard goods (keep only what you need on hand)[/li][li] Travel for leisure; dine in at restaurants[/li][li] Attend school classes in person; attend gatherings[/li][li] Go to health clubs or gyms; to bars or nightclubs; to breweries or wine tastings; to theaters[/li][/ul]
The Do this list is rather longer. Dial-a-Ride, Pararide, and connections to Sacramento and the airport are still available. I can walk 400 snowy feet to catch an hourly bus if needed. The world awaits me! All I need is busfare. And sanitizers.

I’m old enough to be at-risk but I wouldn’t hesitate to take transit, with spacing.

5

A bicycle will allow you to go significantly further.

6

Went into work one day last week, and I took my usual Metra commuter train. While it’s usually fairly packed, nobody standing but few empty seats, there were maybe three passengers in each half of each car. Everyone was definitely honoring social distancing, and the conductors wore gloves.

I plan to go into work one day next week, and I have no concern about taking Metra. Metra is reducing its schedule beginning Monday for the duration of the emergency, but the reduced schedule still works for me.