Fort Worth’s transit buses keep rolling, while most people stay home for coronavirus
Howard Estell spends his work days in a 35-foot metal tube on rubber wheels, breathing the same air as dozens of other Fort Worth-area residents.
Estell works at Trinity Metro, Fort Worth’s transit agency, where he has been a bus driver for nearly 17 years. Each morning, he puts on rubber gloves and a cloth mask to make his rounds, and he keeps a small bottle of sanitizer attached to his belt loop.
Although Trinity Metro sprays all its buses with disinfectant after each fueling — usually at least a couple of times per day — Estell also cleans the surfaces with his own sanitary wipe when he steps aboard. But other than taking those precautions, he doesn’t worry too much about contracting the extremely contagious and potentially deadly illness.
At a time when many Tarrant County residents are under orders to stay at home, to slow the spread of coronavirus, Estell is among the thousands of Fort Worth-area workers whose job requires them to continue showing up each day, and to mingle with people in close quarters.
“For the most part, people are just really scared,” Estell said during a recent break at Trinity Metro’s garage, before heading out to his afternoon route along Hemphill Street in south Fort Worth. “I try to solve that, well, not really solve it, but work with it by saying ‘Hello. How are you doing? Thank you. Have a good day.’ Things you would normally do anyway. But those things seem to be really helping.”
Emergency declarations
After the city and county issued emergency declarations demanding that many residents stay home except for essential trips, some residents questioned why Trinity Metro was still operating its buses, as well as the TEXRail and Trinity Railway Express commuter lines.
One bus rider, Guy Terry, took issue with one of Trinity Metro’s strategies to force riders to keep a distance from each other by roping off two-thirds of its seats. The agency also now requires most passengers to board buses using only the rear doors, reserving the front doors only for people with wheelchairs.
Terry said those strategies could force more passengers to stand in the aisles, possibly putting them closer together, during periods of high use. Some of the agency’s buses have only 24 seats, although others along the popular East Lancaster Avenue routes can hold up to 88 people and on some days can be packed.
Terry also disagreed with the agency’s decision to offer free rides during the coronavirus crisis.
“When they started offering free rides that started a chain reaction for people to ride them just for the sake of it,” Terry said in a Twitter direct message, adding that he has been trying to avoid riding the buses. “I am surprised more people have not come down with COVID-19 from riding the buses and other public transportation services.”
The decision to keep Trinity Metro buses, TEXRail, Trinity Railway Express and paratransit services running hasn’t been without its hiccups.
One Trinity Metro driver has tested positive for coronavirus March 21, was kept in isolation after showing mild symptoms, officials said. An update on the driver’s condition wasn’t available.
The University of North Texas Health Science Center, which already was testing police and other first responders for coronavirus, on April 1 announced that it would offer drive-through testing for Trinity Metro drivers.
But since then, no drivers have complained about coronavirus symptoms, Trinity Metro officials said.
“We have not yet had any employees require testing since our partnership began with HSC.” Joe Acosta, the agency’s chief safety officer for bus and rail, said in an email. “The operator who tested positive recently was tested at another facility prior to our agreement with HSC.”
Essential service
Although public transportation buses force riders to share tight space, they’re also essential service and worth keeping open — not just for work, but also trips to medical appointments and the grocery store, said Bob Baulsir, Trinity Metro president and chief executive officer.
“Many first responders, healthcare professionals and other essential workers rely on Trinity Metro to get to their jobs,” Baulsir said in an email. “We also provide essential transportation services for Tarrant County residents to access health care, food and medicine. Our ACCESS paratransit service provides hundreds of rides a day for dialysis treatments and other medical visits as well as critical errands like buying groceries and pharmacy products.”
‘Probably the best thing to do’
Estell goes about his daily bus routes with no complaints, even though he fits into several high-risk categories for exposure to coronavirus. He is 67 years old, and a cancer survivor.
Twelve years ago, he was diagnosed with head and neck cancer. Doctors removed part of his neck and 19 lymph nodes, he said.
“They told me I wasn’t going to live six months,” he said. “That’s a life-changer there. So, I’ve got a pretty big God. I said, ‘We’ll see what happens.’ By his grace, I don’t have it anymore. I have been in remission for 12 years.”
Estell lives in the Crowley area with his wife, one of his sons and a daughter-in-law. The couple also has four grandchildren ages 4-13.
When he comes home from a day of driving buses, his wife insists that he take precautions to avoid bringing the virus into the house.
“My wife says take all your clothes off and take a shower now,” he said, laughing. “I think that’s probably the best thing to do.”
This story was originally published April 9, 2020 at 6:00 AM.
