MTA Chairman and CEO Patrick J. Foye appeared on 1010 WINS with Brigitte Quinn to discuss the MTA’s ongoing response to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) and the future of mass transit post-pandemic.

A transcript of the interview appears below.

Brigitte Quinn: Joining us live on the 1010 WINS Newsline this morning MTA Chair Pat Foye. Pat, thank you so much for coming on the show with us again this morning. There's so much talk now of what post-pandemic world might look like and I understand that when you look at mass transit, there's some talk now of having people, maybe have to reserve a spot on a train or a bus. How would that work Pat?

Patrick J. Foye: Brigitte, first, thanks for having me on. Second, I think everybody ought to realize that we're still in the middle of the pandemic and we've got to maintain vigilance, wear masks, etcetera. Thirdly, I would say Brigitte, that there is no one item that is going to, in and of itself, protect the health of the public, our customers and our employees, but a system of a number of steps. First is everybody--employees and customers--needs to wear a mask--that's the directive from the Governor right now, that is going to continue to be the case for the foreseeable future. Second, if you're sick you shouldn't be traveling. Third is right now, and this will not be the case by Governor begins to lift New York on PAUSE, but right now the people riding the subways, buses, commuter rails should be first responders and essential employees and everybody else unless it's really critical ought to be home. There are a number of steps starting with wearing masks. Obviously, our ridership has declined significantly on subways, buses, commuter rails, but it will begin to increase when the Governor begins to live in New York on PAUSE downstate.

Quinn: Right, increase Pat, if I can just jump in for a minute. Increase but do you think that they'll increase to the numbers that we used to have or might we see just fewer people on subways in the future? More people maybe, I don't know, riding bikes, walking or driving cars?

Foye: Well, look, I think that ridership is low, it is going to increase from a very low basis, and I would expect that would happen gradually. Having said that, we're very focused and vigilant on crowding. We're providing service for about eight or nine percent of our pre-pandemic customers, and we're providing service in the area of, for instance, 60 to 70% on subways, in buses, it varies, obviously, weekdays and weekends. I'm bullish and optimistic about New York, but I don't think we're going to have, in the short term, the levels of passenger volumes that we had in January of 2020 or a year ago.

Quinn: Oh, and, Pat, you know, I certainly appreciate that you're dealing with the immediate and yes, we are in the middle of the pandemic, but I understand you are having those conversations now about way down the road. And again, just to pin you down on this, are you looking at the possibility of making people reserve a spot on a train or a bus?

Foye: We're looking at everything, everything is on the table. I think the first thing that we're going to be looking at are staggered hours, and staggered days of work would be one, and we're appealing to the business community, which, frankly, many of members of which are already contemplating that. Second would be a continuation of telework and remote working, which I think will be a part of life in New York and around the country going forward. But we're going to be looking at technologies that can control, that can first monitor, we've got cameras on almost every station, those cameras can be used together with analytics to determine the level of passengers on a platform, passengers on a mezzanine, and we're going to be looking at that. And we're going to be looking at ways of, in the interest of the safety of our customers and our employees, to control the number of passengers. Obviously, social distance, wearing a mask and staying six feet away, is going to be nearly impossible on mass transit anyplace in the country or any place in the world and we're talking with the CDC, with the trade associations for public transit in the United States and around the world, and with our peer agencies in Asia, Europe, and North America, to determine what systems they are putting in place and what protocols they're putting in place. We're looking at what every other agency is doing and figuring out how we can adopt that and make it fit New York City.

Quinn: Yeah, and Pat I don't have much time left, but I wanted to ask you about that spacing. I understand that a couple of stations already, we're starting to see the lines like you see in the supermarkets, a reminder for people to keep away from each other. When might you expand that to more stations?

Foye: We're seeing how that how that pilot goes, it appears to be having the desired effects and we'll make a decision together with public health officials at the MTA and at the State and City levels as to whether it ought to be expanded, but the early indications are, are positive. We're also looking at a number of other things to control passenger volumes on subways, buses, and commuter rails.

Quinn: Any update on how long the system has to be shut overnight for cleanings?

Foye: I think as we as we said before, and as the Governor said during the continuation of the pandemic, which we're all hoping will be, will end sooner rather than later. I will say that the closing, the 1 a.m. to 5 a.m. closing and cleaning and reopening at 5 a.m. has been a success. Great work by Sarah Feinberg, the Interim President of New York City Transit and her team and kudos to the NYPD, the MTA police and Commissioner Banks and his department, it's been great teamwork and it's been effective for our customers and employees in terms of disinfecting the stations and the cars, and also getting sheltering services for those without it.

Quinn: All right so kudos to them and a thank you to you Pat Foye for chatting with us here live on 1010 WINS. Appreciate it.

Foye: Thank you, Brigitte.