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The Metro Rail Transit (MRT) line 3 continues to strengthen its health and safety protocols to curb the spread of COVID-19, implementing the ‘five-minute disinfection hustle’ in all of its train coaches. A team of personnel uses the quick disinfection protocol when the train arrives in the North Avenue and Taft Avenue stations. The sanitation measure is based on the seven-minute miracle cleaning done in Japan’s Shinkansen trains.
Days earlier, the management started disinfecting offices and depot facilities, following reports of several employees testing positive for the virus. The initiative was facilitated by Safe-T-Con Pest Control Safety and Environmental Service, in partnership with Sumitomo-MHI-TESP.
COVID-19 Prevention Policies
Along with the strict disinfection protocol, the management regulates one-meter physical distancing among passengers inside the train and wearing of face masks. Recently, they prohibited answering mobile phone calls and talking to others on board, as respiratory droplets from speaking, coughing, and sneezing may increase the likelihood of spreading the virus.
Also part of the new regulations is the filling out of health declaration forms. Aimed at improving contact tracing initiatives, this measure involves passengers providing key information, such as name, address, contact numbers, and station entries. Commuters must likewise log in the date and time they rode the public transportation, as well as their body temperature. The health declaration forms include survey questions about COVID-19 symptoms.
Passengers are required to answer these forms before going through full-body inspection and entering the turnstile area of the station.
The protocols set before the lockdown began in the capital region are still in place, namely disinfection areas, markings indicating where to sit, stand, and line up, and transport marshals inside the trains enforcing physical distancing.
Meanwhile, all station personnel in MRT-3 are mandated to wear full personal protective equipment (PPE), complete with face masks, face shields, gloves, and gowns. Similar to passengers, they must submit a health declaration form, twice a day on their end, to keep close track of their well-being.
The staff’s movement and interaction have become limited as well. Maintenance personnel, for instance, are confined to their respective areas of responsibilities. The interaction of these workers and office staff are restricted. For non-essential office employees, the work-from-home set-up is adopted.
Alternative Transportation Systems
Following the suspension of train operations on July 7 due to the rising positive COVID-19 cases among personnel, the MRT-3 management boosted its Bus Augmentation Program to extend assistance to passengers. Even in these transport vehicles, health and safety protocols are observed, from temperature checks to physical distancing. The buses leave every three minutes whether the seats are filled or not.
As of July 14, the bus augmentation initiative has completed over 17,000 trips and served almost 250,000 passengers, since the start of its operations on June 1, when the National Capital Region (NCR) was put under general community quarantine. A maximum of 90 transport vehicles are deployed every day.
Although train operations have returned already, most commuters prefer buses, as there are fewer passengers compared to the trains, as mentioned in this GMA News report. The first trip starts as early as 4 AM and the last is at 9 PM. The fare is P25, regardless of the destination.
Meanwhile, the management also rolled out EDSA Busway service, which accommodates commuters going from Monumento to Paranaque Integrated Terminal Exchange (PITx). Over 150 buses are deployed for this route. A mini loop from Timog Avenue to Ortigas is also set up, allowing shuttle vehicles to pick up and drop off commuters at the curb.
Transportation for Health Workers
As the general public uses safer transportation, medical frontliners are able to take advantage of free services. The Department of Transportation (DOTr) continues to promote its free ride for health workers program, available not only for health workers in the capital region but also in other places in the country.
As of July 14, the project has registered over 1.3 million in ridership, over 390,000 in NCR, and almost 950,000 in other regions. A total of 129 vehicles were deployed at the date mentioned.
Health workers are able to see the location of buses via their smartphones in real-time, as the vehicles have GPS location tracker devices. This helps them know when the vehicles would arrive at their station. This technology was made available through the partnership of PLDT Enterprise and Vectras, Inc.
Sources: MRT-3, DOTr, GMA News
