Experts worry safe ventilation overlooked as coronavirus capacity limits, mask mandates lift, WMTW NEWS 8'S STEVE BOTTARI REPORTS THERE'S ANOTHER PIECE OF THE SAFETY PUZZLE: VENTILATION. Many buses have HVAC (heating, ventilating and air-conditioning) systems similar to those on subways and trains, with one additional factor: buses are more likely to have windows that open. In August the New York Times asked several international transportation agencies whether any superspreading events had been linked to mass transit, and they said none had. light filter, and we are testing that," said Denise Beck, Marketing and Community Outreach Manager for Greater Portland METRO.METRO has partnered with the University of Southern Maine to carry out the tests on those devices. SHARON, Vt. (AP) The driver of a tractor-trailer that was hit by an Amtrak train on Monday has been . At most, it cuts transmission substantially. He recommends only removing your mask to eat or drink. Reliable data on the frequency of COVID transmission in cars is lacking, however. Another safety factor? "There is a lot of exchange," said Patricia Quinn, executive director of the Northern New England Passenger Rail Authority, which operates the Downeaster. "With the sort of substandard masks most of us wear, if you don't have good ventilation, I just think you don't have a chance." The 14 Most Scenic Train Rides in the U.S. 31 Romantic Weekend Getaways to Book on a Budget, From Oprah Daily for Orangetheory Fitness, safest way to travel is via your own two feet, Bill Miller, an epidemiologist at The Ohio State University, Your Privacy Choices: Opt Out of Sale/Targeted Ads. "We were at 2,000 PPM for the local classrooms here, and we opened the window and we were at 550 PPM," Arnot said.The doctors say the upper limit of any building you would want to be in would be around 800 PPM, measured by CO2 meters that are available online and in most home improvement stores for around $100.Some Maine schools, like in Gorham, have used federal relief bill money to install upgrade their ventilation systems. The affected routes include some trains in the Northeast Corridor and a New Orleans route. Places like Washington State have already mandated live CO2 readings for restaurants, as a way to try to mitigate the virus risk. "I think Maine is very well positioned," Quinn said. COVID-19 Innovative Adaptations As COVID-19 has greatly impacted the transportation industry, Amtrak has had to make some innovative adaptations. "And that has really been something that I think has given people a sense of comfort.". "Two of our new buses have an air purification, a U.V. UPDATE: Vermonter Train 55 is currently operating approx. Before the pandemic, many people would not think twice about ordering a ride-share car or hailing a taxi. And thats when I got to work. Since then, ridership crept partway back to its. 2023 Scientific American, a Division of Springer Nature America, Inc. The latest breaking updates, delivered straight to your email inbox. Cookies collect information about your preferences and your device and are used to make the site work as you expect it to, to understand how you interact with the site, and to show advertisements that are targeted to your interests. TRAVEL + LEISURE is a registered trademark of Travel + Leisure Co., registered in the United States and other countries. Passport wait times are up again. Amtrak rider Erin Silverman of Bloomfield Hills got off the train on the night of Feb. 5 in Troy, after riding the rails all the way to and from Denver. Up until this point, all of my anxiety about traveling during a pandemic had managed to drown out something I hadnt even considered: the excitement of traveling. When their recirculation systems are operating, most commercial passenger jets bring in outside air in a top-to-bottom direction about 20 to 30 times per hours. Theres not a huge amount of evidence that contaminated surfaces are the major source of transmission of COVID-19, says Lofgren. Theres no filtration system in the world that will move air fast enough to get COVID-19 away from you before you can be exposed to it, says Lofgren. A post shared by Ali Wunderman (@aliwunderman). A Free Press article last year documented that Amtraks trains had become routinely late across much of the nation, with Michigan trains the very latest. MERV-13 filters are less efficient than HEPA filters, but the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recommends them for reducing the number of airborne viral particles. "We have been waylaid by the CDC with 'wash all this stuff,'" Dr. Arnot said. As I set my things down, the train rolled into motion. YOU CAN FI, With mask mandates and capacity limits lifting in Maine on May 24, some experts are warning we need to take a closer look at something they feel has been overlooked in this pandemic: the quality of the air we are sharing inside. Are We Experiencing a Second Wave of COVID-19? Mask wearing reduces risk and is now mandatory on many forms of transit in the U.S., including New York Citys subway and bus systems, as well as Amtrak trains throughout the country. One advantage to taking a train over a plane is that there are often fewer crowds and queues. (The results were published this month in the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Preventions journal Emerging Infectious Diseases.) Amtrak, however, is limiting passenger capacity to roughly 50 percent (a percentage that varies depending on the quantity and size of groups traveling together) and has expanded cars and routes . Travel + Leisure magazine may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Instead of eating in the dining car, I took advantage of Amtraks new room service option and had all my meals delivered right to my room at a time of my choosing. You dont want to get sick just because someone was unwilling to choose a different seat. Or, get someone sick if you're a carrier. But now the idea of being in such an enclosed space with a stranger can seem like a life-and-death proposition. Some bus companies have installed clear partitions between drivers and passengers. Shorter ridesespecially those under roughly 15 minutespose a lower risk than long ones. Each is said to boast a 4,400-horsepower diesel engine made by manufacturer Cummins in Indiana, which generates electricity that powers four electric motors to turn the drive wheels. If you happen to be seated close to a person who is actively shedding the virus, especially if it is a long flight or that person is not wearing a mask, there is a higher chance that you will get the disease. However, on the routes where the boarding announcements didnt sound as intense about COVID policies, passengers seemed less inclined to follow the rules. As the coronavirus pandemic .css-9cezh6{-webkit-text-decoration:underline;text-decoration:underline;text-decoration-thickness:0.0625rem;text-decoration-color:inherit;text-underline-offset:0.25rem;color:#E61957;-webkit-transition:all 0.3s ease-in-out;transition:all 0.3s ease-in-out;}.css-9cezh6:hover{color:#595959;text-decoration-color:border-link-body-hover;}rages on around the world, experts reiterate that the safest way to travel is via your own two feetpreferably using them to go on a nice, solitary walk around the block or through the woods. Amtrak will restore traditional dining car service on six western routes and the Auto Train on June 23. But those still wary of catching COVID-19 may wonder: Is taking a train safer? "Cambridge University says it is the best overall indicator of whether or not you have fresh air in that room or not.". In lieu of offering everyone private rooms, Murray says that assigned (spaced-out) seating is a smart step for Amtrak to take to protect passengers and allow for social distancing. If the tests go well, METRO may add the purification to the rest of the fleet.For the buses, ridership is down about 60% from pre-pandemic levels.METRO launched a joint website with regional transit systems to provide information to riders about safety protocols.This summer, expect lots of open windows on the buses too to add extra ventilation, officials said.That, this summer -- and even heading into colder months -- may be the key, according to Dr. Arnot:"Fundamentally you've got to have clean outdoor air, indoors and where could you possibly have better air than the state of Maine. WITH MASKS ABOUT TO BE TOSSED ASIDE FOR GOOD -- THAT BRINGS ALL THE MORE ATTENTION ON SOMETHING SOME EXPERTS SAY HAS BEEN OVERLOOKED IN THIS PANDEMIC -- THE QUALITY OF AIR WE BREATHE. In fact, the whole room looked like what I would have expected to find in a first-class suite on an international flight back in the 1970s (if they made them this big). For homes and many businesses, the solution may be as simple as keeping all the windows open as much as possible. Amtrak put out a video highlighting its air filtration system, citing numbers that it cycles air through the train cars on average 44 times an hour, replacing with fresh air about every 5 minutes. Some drivers have even installed a plastic shield between the front and back seats. When that happens, Amtrak could reach its potential to consistently outshine the experience of driving a car from Detroit to Chicago with lower costs, less time and more convenience not to mention no fear of getting a dreaded three-figure parking ticket in Chicagoland. When I finally made it to the dining room the next day, after official breakfast hours were over, Sandy and Linda greeted me. All of that may, literally, require an act of Congress. A number of subway and train systems use lower-rated MERV filters that are still capable of at least reducing the volume of coronavirus in the air. Time: How much of it will you be spending in a place where you could get infected? Those numbers suggest there could be another travel bump in the next few weeks around Christmas. Over the past few months, Ive taken four trains over three Amtrak routes, Wunderman told me. However, this was not the case on my train. Monitoring carbon dioxide levels, getting more fresh outdoor air in spaces key. At a casual glance, air travel might seem like the perfect recipe for COVID transmission: it packs dozens of people into a confined space, often for hours at a time. Somewhere after Santa Barbara, golden hour set in, and the tracks brought us nearly to the edge of cliffs running along the Pacific Ocean. "Places like Washington State have already mandated live CO2 readings for restaurants, as a way to try to mitigate the virus risk.The data emerging from a handful of new research papers show that COVID-19 can build up in poorly ventilated spaces.In fact, a recent MIT study found the risk of being exposed to the coronavirus could be as great whether a person is 6 feet or 60 feet away if the air is mixed.That study went on to point out the potential threat existed even with a mask.WHAT TO DO AT HOME"The reason we still have hundreds to thousands of cases every single day it's as if people were walking into burning buildings and we didn't have smoke detectors," Dr. Arnot said.For homes and many businesses, the solution may be as simple as keeping all the windows open as much as possible.More airtight locations would have to work with their HVAC systems to increase the fresh air intake to levels that would adequately lower the parts per million (PPM).MAKING CLASSROOMS SAFERSchools have been some of the first places to take a hard look at their ventilation. 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