SamTrans bus service, which is now running for free, has not had the same percentage passenger loss as its Bay Area train counterparts.
COVID-19 recovery planning for the transit service is well underway.
Ridership on the bus line is down by more than two-thirds.
"We were serving 36,000 to 37,000 riders each weekday (before the coronavirus pandemic)," SamTrans CEO Jim Hartnett said. "We’re now at the 11,000 or 12,000 mark."
Some bus lines have been cut, but most lines are operating on Saturday service.
In all, the service is running the same routes, but just not as often.
"That’s a big drop, but it’s nothing like Caltrain," San Mateo County Supervisor Dave Pine said. "It really points out how critically important the bus is for so many people in this county."
Many students take SamTrans to get to school. Planning is underway for the fall, as many schools are considering staggered schedules or a combination of eLearning and in-person classes.
"They are changing up their school days," Hartnett said. "It’s going to be very difficult for us to provide a reliable level of frequent service to the schools as we have historically."
SamTrans depends on a sales tax, and those taxes are expected to be lower in the months to come.