Virus Threatens Future of Already-Struggling Transit Systems

Virus Threatens Future of Already-Struggling Transit Systems
Train driver wearing a protective mask operates the doors of a Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority's Blue Line subway car at Maverick Station in Boston on April 24, 2020. Michael Dwyer/AP
The Associated Press
Updated:

BOSTON—Before the pandemic, public transit users in cities around the country bonded over a slew of ills that plagued aging subway systems, from delays and breakdowns to the occasional derailment.

Now, those systems are grappling with a new reality—drastically plummeting ridership and revenue caused by a stealthy virus that’s also sickening and killing transit workers.