I guess rigs like this are more common than not these days, distancing passengers from the  person driving their bus.

On Sunday, when I first saw this, I thought maybe the driver was taking his own precautions in not allowing people to board by the front door and making sure they couldn’t get near him, I have since discovered that other transit systems are doing the same thing.

This means a drop in revenue for the transit systems, as those paying in cash can no longer drop their money into the fare box by the driver. I’m thinking that isn’t sustainable in the long term. I wonder what the solution is?

The COVID-19 pandemic is going to bring about some changes in how we do things, in how society does things. At this point it is much too early to tell what those will be – but at various points over the next few weeks, as time allows, I’d like to explore a few of them.

Maybe it is time for all public transit to be fare-free. Governments are already subsidizing what users pay. Would more people use the system if it was fully tax-supported, if you didn’t need to fumble for change or buy that monthly pass? Would the cost be justifiable?

These days there aren’t many people using public transit. No problems keeping “social distance” on the bus. I suspect train travel, the backbone of the German transit system, is similarly down. After all, nothing is open at your destination either.

What about you? Are you still using public transit during this time of pandemic? You can leave a comment below.