Sick? Please don't ride Metro

Here is an oped I wrote for the Washington Post's local opinion section. The reality is that we live in an urban environment and with both seasonal flu and H1N1, we not only need to take our own personal precautions, but also be aware that our ills can be passed along to others.

Cough, cough? Hint, hint: Stay away from Metro.

By Daniel F. Drummond
Fairfax City
Sunday, October 25, 2009

Are you making Metro sick -- and causing delays for your fellow passengers? If you are getting on trains or buses while sniffling, sneezing or coughing, you could be.

The trains, buses and stations that thousands of us pass through every day are a big science experiment. We're all trading germs as we travel to and fro. It's like going into the hospital; riding on Metro could be hazardous to your health.

And with flu season about to blow wide open -- not to mention H1N1 hanging over our heads -- the transit system is undoubtedly about to get sicker.

This isn't me saying this. It's Metro itself. It has made umpteen public service announcements in recent weeks. A special section of its Web site also has lots of good information about protecting yourself from H1N1, the seasonal flu and germs in general.

What's missing is a stricter policy -- and an aggressive public education campaign -- sending the message that commuters and employees alike should stay home if they even think they might be sick.

The logic is simple: Railcars or buses are petri dishes. Icky molecules and microbes float in the air and rest on everything we touch -- rails, seats, poles. When sick people come into the system, they make others sick. Policymakers, me included, have a responsibility to protect the public's health. Dissuading people from coming into the station may sound draconian, but let's think of the consequences of not doing so in terms of headlines: "Thousands of Metro riders sick from swine flu outbreak" or "Metro system shut down due to quarantine."

This last may seem extreme, but minor versions of such a disruption occur regularly. According to Metro, trains are stopped more than 200 times a year because someone on board is sick.

I can recall countless times when a train I was on stopped for 10 to 15 minutes to attend to a sick rider. Recently, I was riding the Orange Line into Washington during the morning rush. First, the train stopped for almost 20 minutes, then we had to get off the train. Another 10-minute wait ensued. Why? There was a sick passenger on the train ahead of the one I was riding.

The solutions are good old common sense:

-- Metro should strengthen its current policy and bar sick rail and bus operators and station workers from coming to work.

-- Metro needs to bring its Web site focused on seasonal flu and H1N1 to life and launch a public education campaign to encourage ailing riders not to ride Metro. This should include large permanent displays in stations, in railcars and buses, and at bus stops.

-- Metro should work with the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments and local governments to educate employers and workers about the advantages of teleworking or, better yet, simply not working while sick.

-- Nonflammable hand sanitizer dispensers should be placed at all stations and on buses and railcars.

I know my suggestions aren't a cure-all, but pursuing them would move us toward a healthier Metro. They amount to an aggressive approach to the public health challenge of keeping people well while keeping our transit system, our economy -- and our lives -- moving forward.

And maybe we'll all feel a little less miserable when the "sick season" bears down on us.

The writer is a member of the Fairfax City Council who serves on the board of directors for the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments and the Transportation Planning Board.