Latest news with #publictransportation
CBS News
a day ago
- General
- CBS News
CDC steps up measles travel warning after spread in airplane
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has updated its warning about the risk of contracting measles while traveling, after the agency tallied dozens of cases so far this year in travelers who were infectious while flying on airplanes within the U.S. "Travelers can catch measles in many travel settings including travel hubs like airports and train stations, on public transportation like airplanes and trains, at tourist attractions, and at large, crowded events," the agency now says, in an update published Wednesday. Since the beginning of the year, the CDC has received at least 62 reports of travelers who were contagious with the highly transmissible virus while flying into the U.S. or within the country, a spokesperson for the health agency told CBS News in a statement. After investigating 50 of those travelers, the CDC was able to determine that measles spread during air travel in at least one of those situations, the spokesperson said. That is usually based on connecting confirmed cases of measles among airline passengers sitting near each other. There have also been numerous public alerts in recent months about the possible risk of exposure in airports, after travelers were found to be contagious. "Exposures at the airport itself are more difficult to track, and state, local, and territorial health departments lead these investigations," the spokesperson said. In its Wednesday update, the CDC dropped its list of countries now facing "high incidence" of measles. Instead, the agency now warns only that the virus is "an ongoing risk around the world, and more international travelers are getting infected." In addition to this year's record surge of the virus within the U.S., health authorities in neighboring Mexico and Canada have also reported large outbreaks of measles. The CDC also replaced a previous recommendation that Americans "consider making alternative travel plans" if they could not get vaccinated before departing, and now says travelers should "consider postponing their trip." All travelers are recommended to be fully vaccinated for measles before going to any international destination. The CDC recently updated its guidance to doctors advising additional measles vaccines for some domestic travelers as well. The changes come as the CDC's tally of measles cases has begun to show signs of accelerating again. At least 1,088 cases of measles have been reported so far this year, the CDC said Friday, with two more states — Iowa and Nebraska — now reporting their first confirmed cases. Around 90% of confirmed cases are linked to outbreaks within the U.S., not travel outside the country. A tally of cases backdated by when their symptoms began has climbed for a second straight week, in the agency's preliminary data, after falling from a peak in late March during the height of the outbreak in Texas and neighboring states. While federal health officials have said that this Southwest outbreak now appears to be slowing, they have warned of the risk of renewed spread driven by travel. "This outbreak does appear to be leveling off, but the affected states remain hypervigilant, and that's because it's travel season," the CDC's Dr. Manisha Patel, chief medical officer of the agency's National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, told a webinar published by the American Medical Association on May 15.
CBS News
a day ago
- Business
- CBS News
RTD adds 27,000 hours to bus, rail services, hosts Denver career fair
Riders who use the Regional Transportation District's, also known as RTD, public transportation services now have an easier way of traveling around the Denver metro area. RTD just added more than 27,000 service hours to their bus and rail services starting now until the end of 2025. This change will get riders around faster and more often. Some of the changes include: Rail services The N Line will add a northbound trip from Union Station Friday evenings The D, E, H, R and W lines will receive minor schedule adjustments to increase on-time performance and service reliability Bus services Routes that will receive minor schedule adjustments to improve on-time performance and service reliability or to improve connections with other RTD services include 1, 9, 11, 12, 20, 38, 121, 153, 169L, 205, 206, 208, 483, BOLT, DASH, and P. The P route will be renamed PD effective May 25, 2025. Routes that will experience increased service include 16, 44, 73, 153, NB2 and the Free MetroRide. Routes that will undergo seasonal adjustments include 11, 20, 24, 42, 45, 65, 73, 225, 225D, JUMP, NB1, NB2, DASH and SKIP. The Free MetroRide will provide additional service during peak travel periods on weekdays. Access-a-Ride Customers who use Access-a-Ride should be aware that any reductions or improvements to regular bus and rail routes may also impact paratransit service availability. RTD is committed to ensuring that paratransit services remain accessible and will communicate any changes that may affect these services. The Metro Bus Ride will run on 16th Street and 9th Street in downtown Denver between Civic Center Park and Denver Union Station from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Friday CBS RTD has also added new security measures to its services. The agency has almost 100 officers in its police force and is budgeted to add 50 more. The agency also has video cameras on all of its buses and is now aiming to add them to all of its rail systems. This provides officers with live looks on all services and makes it easier to patrol the areas. The agency has also implemented 24 hours a day, seven days of week patrolling. RTD said public transit is essential when you have a metro area with millions of people. "Public transit is so important for people," Tara Broghammer, Senior Specialist of Public Relations with RTD. "This is for educational opportunities, job opportunities and anyone making those trips downtown. They can lead the driving to RTD. They don't have to pay for parking. It's very convenient." CBS Now, with more services, RTD needs to hire more staff. The agency is hosting a career fair on Friday, May 30, from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. at their Platte Division office, located at 3333 Ringsby Court in Denver. The agency is looking to hire at least 85 bus operators, tech and supervisor roles, with pay starting at $25.95. Applicants could also receive a $4,000 signing bonus. The agency will also host listening and feedback sessions to allow riders to voice their opinions on the new service changes. The meetings will be virtual on Monday, June 16, at noon and 5:30 p.m. and on Tuesday, June 17, at 5:30 p.m. A service planner will be available for questions.
CBS News
2 days ago
- Business
- CBS News
We rode a SEPTA bus with its fare evasion task force in Philadelphia. Here's how it went.
Dawn Cooper says she's been driving SEPTA buses for more than 25 years now. Having spent that much time shuttling people across the city, she's seen a lot. "Just when you think that's it, you see some more," Cooper said. One thing she sees all the time: people not paying for their ride. "Every day," Cooper said. "Over half, over half of the ridership does not pay." Fare evasion has become a costly problem for SEPTA. The authority has long focused on the rails, where people frequently hop turnstiles to skip the fee. Last year, SEPTA installed full-length fare gates at the 69th Street Station to cut down on fare evasion on the Market-Frankford Line. But, SEPTA officials tell CBS News Philadelphia, while they have more riders on the rails, they see a higher rate of fare evasion on buses. And when people don't pay while getting on a bus, it puts them face to face with drivers. "I don't even feel safe approaching or having any kind of negative confrontation with anyone," Cooper said. "So I just let them ride." Dawn Cooper says she's been driving SEPTA buses for more than 25 years now. Having spent that much time shuttling people across the city, she's seen a lot. CBS News Philadelphia Now, SEPTA is sending in reinforcements. This week, the authority launched a new task force with officers dedicated to riding routes with the highest fare evasion to make sure people are paying up. On Wednesday, SEPTA invited CBS News Philadelphia to ride along with two officers on the Route 18 bus, from the Olney Transportation Center to Fox Chase and back. It's a route where officials say they've seen some of the highest fare evasion. The officers were stationed at the front of the bus. One would get off to greet people who were getting on, while the other stood close to the fare box. "The farebox is here and they'd have to get past both of us. So fare evasion drops to basically zero when we're on the bus," Officer Brendan Dougherty said. "Most people are just here to ride a bus, they pay, and they're not a problem." From what CBS Philadelphia saw, Dougherty's assessment was pretty true. Most people who rode the Route 18 with us on Wednesday morning got on the bus ready to pay their $2.50. The officers did have to give a few reminders to some passengers, and one woman who was initially stopped just needed a second to put her bags down. "It's not like 'Stop! Don't get on.' Sometimes they have to sit down and get their belongings, and we have to understand that's how the flow of it works sometimes," Officer Nicholas Epps said. Still, there were plenty of people we saw turned away at the doors. "Gotta pay your fare," Epps said to one young man, who simply turned around and walked off. Dougherty talked with another man in the doorway during one stop. "I just said, make sure you have your fare ready. And he said he didn't have it. He didn't argue, just said, all right, never mind," Dougherty said. Officers Brendan Dougherty and Nicholas Epps riding a SEPTA bus as a part of the agency's fare evasion task force program. CBS News Philadelphia The officers say they also try to be nimble, hopping from bus to bus as they work their shifts. Epps says if everything looks good on the bus they're riding, they may get off at a stop and catch another bus going a different way. Epps says they try to send a message that they could be anywhere at any time. "It's like an omnipresence where like, I might not be on this bus, but you do know we ride the bus. And when you get at the bus stop, you don't know if we're going to be on the bus or not," Epps said. "So why would you not come to the bus with your fare?" We saw it firsthand during our ride-along as we hopped buses with the officers and headed back toward Olney. In all, CBS Philadelphia saw around 10 people stop from getting on the bus without paying, far from the majority who rode the route with us. But that's still about 10 people in one hour on one route. Spread that across SEPTA's vast network of buses, trains and trolleys, leaders say the losses mount fast. "It is a large sum of money," SEPTA Police Chief Chuck Lawson said. "In the millions. In the multiple millions. Could be as high as $30 million." The crackdown comes as SEPTA faces a $213 million budget shortfall. The agency has already released plans for massive service cuts and fare hikes if more money doesn't come from the state government, a topic that's sparked controversy for the last two years in Harrisburg. While stopping fare evasion won't fully fund that budget gap, every dollar counts for the transit authority right now, and Lawson says they'll be focused on making sure people pay. "At some station you attend, you're going to see cops there," Lawson said. "We're going to be enforcing the fare pretty heavily." Lawson said the task force will use data and focus on the routes that are seeing the highest levels of fare evasion. The chief also doesn't believe the task force will impact SEPTA's ability to keep an eye on the rest of its services. He says their officer recruitment and retainment has remained good, and force levels are at their highest in around 12 years. On the bus, the officers say enforcement is only one part of what they do. It's also about changing a culture in which some people think paying is optional. "We try to put that in people's heads that if it's anytime to start paying, it's today," Epps said. "We gotta get in the custom that this is not a free service, people have to pay their fare." For drivers like Cooper, having the officers on board also brings a sense of safety to their daily rides. "It definitely would make not only me feel better, but the ridership feel better also," Cooper said. "There's a lot going on on these buses, especially where we are right now, Broad and Olney. There's a lot going on. So seeing a police presence will definitely make a difference." Lawson says there is no timetable for how long the task force will run and that SEPTA could move officers around the system to where they are most needed.
Reuters
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Reuters
World number three Pegula flies under the radar on Paris subway
PARIS, May 29 (Reuters) - American Jessica Pegula is usually more at home on private jets as she tours the world playing professional tennis but the French Open third seed took a fancy to public transportation in Paris this week and managed to fly under everyone's radar. The 31-year-old Pegula, who is through to the third round in Paris, took a quick break from playing duties to take a ride on the French capital's Metro. "Nobody recognised me," she told a press conference. "Nobody recognised me at all. Nobody cared in that sense." Pegula, whose parents are billionaires, gave the French subway the thumbs up. "It was definitely very nice, very clean," she said. "A lot more relaxed than when I took the subway in New York. That's, like, an experience. A lot of entertainment," she said. "It was a good experience. I want to see if I can maybe take some players or something and do a couple of those in the future and just see what happens, get everybody taking the Metro." The world number three used the New York subway during last year's U.S. Open to cut down on travel time in the congested city.
CBS News
5 days ago
- General
- CBS News
BART says Green Line service restored after fire near San Leandro
BART track fire near San Leandro station knocks out service to much of the East Bay BART track fire near San Leandro station knocks out service to much of the East Bay BART track fire near San Leandro station knocks out service to much of the East Bay Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) officials announced that Green Line service has been restored following last week's fire that damaged tracks near the San Leandro station. According to the agency, normal service to the line between Daly City and the Berryessa / North San Jose stations was restored Sunday. "Crews had been working overnight since the Tuesday morning fire at San Leandro Station to replace wayside track equipment so Green Line service could be restored," the agency said. Normal Green Line (Berryessa- Daly City) service has resumed. All BART lines are once again running. — BART Alert (@SFBARTalert) May 26, 2025 The fire, which broke out before the morning commute on May 20, led to service being disrupted in much of the East Bay for much of the day. All stations were reopened the following day, but Green Line service was suspended as crews conducted repairs. BART said on Thursday that an investigation was underway into the root cause of the fire. The agency said there was an electrical fault on its DC power system from a 1,000-volt DC cable that was part of BART's original system, and a fire started. "The electrical fault should have been isolated, but it bypassed our various protections such as transfer trips and circuit breakers," BART said at the time. "While faults are not uncommon in the BART system, it is very rare that this fault escalated to this level." Last week's fire was the second major disruption to BART service this month, following a computer glitch that led to the entire system being shut down on May 9. Due to the Memorial Day holiday, trains are running on a Sunday schedule.
