LONDON, ONT. -- Staying safe on public transit. It's a delicate balance between public need and public health.
The London Transit Commission has no plans to shut down service according to LTC Board Chair and Ward 6 Councillor Phil Squire.
“It’s a public service that’s still in demand during this time. We’re not contemplating discontinuing the buses completely but what we’re doing is resizing the service to match up with the demand.”
This may mean reducing service on some routes that have low demand, while keeping service to high-demand routes. A decision on this will be made next week. Squire says you can get the most updated information on any route changes on the LTC website.
“It’s being updated constantly, if people have any concerns at all that’s where they should go to look for it.”
But some riders who spoke to CTV News Wednesday believe the service should be shut down amid the COVID-19 outbreak.
“They should close them down right now," says David Wheeler, "If someone has this disease and they spread it onto a bus. The next person gets the disease and then spreads it on to the next person and the next person and it spreads on and on and on. So maybe close down the buses for a little bit until they figure this whole thing out.”
While social distancing might be difficult on a busy bus, officials are advising you treat the bus no differently than any other social interaction.
“If people are on buses, if people aren’t social distancing that’s a concern. People should have and we would encourage them to do that," says Squire. "But, as of now, we’re not telling people they can’t come on the bus.”
Taking that measure would leave thousands of Londoners without a mode of transport, but Squire says for those who don't have access to the web they can call the LTC office to receive updates.
