#SoundTheHorn campaign honors the MBTA’s 6,385 employees and transportation workers across the region
BOSTON – The MBTA joins Amtrak, New York’s Metropolitan Transit Authority, New Jersey Transit, and other regional transit operators in honoring those public transit workers providing critical transit service to healthcare workers, first responders, childcare workers, grocery store employees, and other heroes performing critically essential work during the Covid-19 pandemic.
This effort – #SoundTheHorn – includes simultaneously sounding the fleets of trains and bus horns to honor transportation workers. As a tribute to the front lines of this public health crisis, all MBTA trains and buses running in service will give two one-second horn blasts at 3 p.m. in solidarity with Amtrak, New York, New Jersey, and other partner agencies.
“The MBTA is proud to join our colleagues in public transportation in celebrating the unheralded efforts of our front line transit workforce,” said MBTA General Manager Steve Poftak. “These men and women are the backbone of our communities, oftentimes providing the only source of transit to our neighborhoods. Today being One Boston Day makes this effort especially poignant as we honor Boston’s resiliency, generosity, and strength.”
If members of the public see or hear trains or buses sounding their horns at 3 p.m. on Thursday, the MBTA encourages the public to use the #SoundTheHorn hashtag to post audio and video on social media.
Enhanced Cleaning and Disinfecting:
The MBTA continues to discourage all non-essential travel. In addition to encouraging good hygiene practices and social distancing, the MBTA is continuing its enhanced cleaning and disinfecting protocols, which includes:
- Rear-door boarding on all MBTA buses and trolleys at street-level stops on the Green Line and Mattapan Line as well as the installation of removable barriers on vehicles in support of social distancing efforts to protect the health and safety of the MBTA’s workforce and customers. Anyone needing to use the front door, including seniors and people with disabilities, may continue to do so.
- Disinfecting all fleet vehicles – buses, trolleys, subway cars, Commuter Rail coaches, and RIDE vehicles – every 24 hours, and protocols to clean and disinfect all high-contact surfaces on buses during mid-day layover periods.
- Cleaning all high-contact surfaces such as handrails, fare gates, and fare vending machines in subway stations once every 4 hours.
The MBTA continues to follow guidance from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, with the MBTA encouraging its riders and the public to:
- Wash hands often with soap and warm water for at least 20 seconds;
- Practice social distancing;
- Cover your face when in public;
- Cover coughs and sneezes;
- Stay home if sick;
- Avoid touching eyes, nose, and mouth;
- Clean areas that are frequently touched with sanitizing spray or wipes.
MBTA riders and Massachusetts residents are encouraged to visit mass.gov/COVID19 for information on COVID-19 and mass.gov/KnowPlanPrepare for additional preparedness tips.
For more information, please visit mbta.com/coronavirus, or connect with the T on Twitter @MBTA and @MBTA_CR, on Facebook /TheMBTA, or on Instagram @theMBTA.
