VTA keeps light rail system clean and safe for riders during COVID-19

SANTA CLARA, Calif. (KGO) -- To keep riders safe, the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) rigorously cleans the light rail system to keep passengers safe during COVID-19.

"We want people to feel safe, we want people to come back and ride the train again because people need to work," said Rick Trujillo, station maintenance supervisor. "We're going above and beyond our parts in making sure there's going to be a safe ride for them."

VTA's light rail serves San Jose and its Silicon Valley suburbs. Essential workers deeply sanitize all vehicles, ticketing stations, benches and handrails based on CDC recommendations. In the evening, VTA crews pressure wash the platforms.

"We take public safety very seriously. We actually have stepped up our cleaning ever since COVID had started," said Woody Wheeler, VTA lead maintenance worker. "We have been cleaning down the ticket vending machines, the button, the emergency calls. I believe this is the cleanest it's been and we're only improving as far as we go."

For more information on how VTA is keeping employees and passengers safe during COVID-19, visit this page.