Chapel Hill Transit kicked off Transit Team Member Appreciation Week on Monday to honor employees who have kept routes up and running throughout the pandemic.
Chapel Hill Transit is currently operating 14 of their 19 routes. The seating capacity is 16 customers on regular sized buses and 21 customers on larger buses. Face coverings must be worn on all vehicles and at stops unless there is a qualified exception.
To keep people safe, vehicles and the transit facility are sanitized at least twice a day. Operators must complete a health screening prior to coming into work and are provided with a variety of protective equipment including face masks and face shields.
Chapel Hill Transit Director Brian Litchfield said Chapel Hill Transit adapted its services last March, following CDC and local public health guidelines.
“I understand that transit might not be for everyone right now but it is one thing that is available,” Litchfield said. “We feel that that it’s not only safe for our team members but also our customers and we’ll continue to do all we can to keep it safe and encourage folks to start using transit again as they feel comfortable doing so.”
To celebrate the work done by transit employees, Litchfield said his department expanded the traditional Transit Driver Appreciation Day.
“Our transit operators are extremely important and we need to honor them and appreciate them, but we also realized it takes a team to make the transit system work so we started celebrating Transit Team Member Appreciation Week,” Litchfield said.
These team members include anyone involved in helping Chapel Hill Transit run – not just the drivers.
During the appreciation week, community members can thank their transit team by writing notes on door hangers which can be found on each bus.
Next week we’re celebrating our transit team members! You can help: we’ve placed hangers on our buses. Write a note on the back, put it back on the hand rails and we will post it for all our team to see pic.twitter.com/lBXV428tO2
Chapel Hill Transit is also working on a wrapped bus featuring faces of transit and town team members who have been on the front line during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Litchfield said he appreciates the Chapel Hill, Carrboro and university community frequently showing appreciation for the workers every day – not just during Transit Team Member Appreciation week.
“A wave from the back or a thank you or a hello goes an incredibly long way,” Litchfield said.
