State transport, ports and transit authorities

Summary

The State transportation, toll, transit and port authorities in this cluster acted in the same week the governors declared their emergencies, and they acted as authorities: they changed the conditions on which every motorist, commuter, trucker, ferry passenger and port visitor in their jurisdictions could use public transportation infrastructure. Run-up and 2020 Q2 (wages from March 12, 2020). Between March 14 and March 27, 2020 the Ohio Turnpike moved every service-plaza restaurant to carry-out only under the Ohio health director's order of March 15 (Ex. 075); DelDOT closed the I-95 Biden Welcome Center to the public and Delaware's toll plazas stopped taking cash on March 17 (Ex. 085, 088); the Maryland Transportation Authority went cashless statewide at 3:00 p.m. on March 17 'in response to Governor Larry Hogan's executive order this morning' and closed every E-ZPass customer service center (Ex. 104, 105); PennDOT closed every rest area in Pennsylvania at midnight March 17 under Governor Wolf's mitigation directive and every driver license center from the close of business March 16, suspended construction projects in all counties and extended license, CDL, registration and inspection expirations (Ex. 099, 100); Florida's Turnpike refused cash from noon March 19 (Ex. 077); the New Jersey Turnpike Authority (10:00 p.m. March 24), the Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission (10:00 p.m. March 24, with a $30 violation fee), the Delaware River and Bay Authority (12:01 a.m. March 26) and the Delaware River Port Authority (6:00 a.m. March 26) suspended cash collection on the Northeast's interstate crossings (Ex. 027, 074, 098, 007); the Illinois Tollway went all-electronic and closed its customer service centers and call center (Ex. 073). The transit authorities cut service to weekend or Saturday levels statewide (DART March 18, Ex. 006; MDOT MTA March 18, Ex. 001; RTC Southern Nevada March 25, Ex. 032; UTA April 5, Ex. 017; TriMet April 5 with a 10-15 rider cap per bus, Ex. 045; CTDOT rail March 16, March 30 and April 20, Ex. 034-036), directed rear-door boarding and suspended fare collection (CTDOT statewide March 19, Ex. 010; MTA March 23, Ex. 089; DART April 2 with passenger limits, Ex. 087; OmniRide fare-free, Ex. 042), and told the public to use transit for 'ESSENTIAL TRAVEL ONLY' (Ex. 002, 010, 013, 035, 071). The ferry systems limited travel: Washington State Ferries cancelled its Canadian route because of the border closure and cut central Puget Sound sailings by half (Ex. 019-022); the NCDOT Ferry Division barred visitors from Ocracoke-bound ferries under the Hyde County emergency declaration from 5:00 a.m. March 19 with law enforcement checking identification at the terminals (Ex. 047) and cut every route's schedule (Ex. 048); the Cape May-Lewes Ferry suspended foot passengers (Ex. 076); the Staten Island Ferry went to hourly service March 30 (Ex. 069); the Alaska Marine Highway screened every boarding passenger (Ex. 079) while the State's Health Mandates 010 and 012 imposed a 14-day quarantine on every arrival and prohibited all non-critical travel between Alaska communities under criminal penalties (Ex. 080, 082). The port authorities closed their administrative buildings, moved staff to telework, restricted access to essential personnel and screened visitors and drivers (Corpus Christi, Freeport, Portland, Duluth, NC Ports, Gulfport, JAXPORT, Wilmington: Ex. 060-064, 067, 102, 103, 055, 066), and recorded the cruise cessation (Ex. 058, 055). Masks arrived by order in the second quarter: MDOT MTA required face coverings from 7:00 a.m. April 18 under Order 20-04-15-01 (Ex. 002); RIPTA under Rhode Island EO 20-24 from April 18 (Ex. 071); the MTA under New York EO 202.18 from April 17 (Ex. 091); CTtransit under EO 7BB from April 20 (Ex. 011); OmniRide under Virginia EO 63 from May 29 (Ex. 044); NJ TRANSIT under EO 125 from April 13 and EO 165 from July 15 (Ex. 015). 2020 Q3. Fare collection and front-door boarding returned in stages (NJ TRANSIT trains July 6, buses August 3, Access Link August 10, Ex. 014-016; MDOT MTA July 12, Ex. 003; MTA August 31, Ex. 089; RTC June 7, Ex. 033; CTtransit October 5, Ex. 038) while the mask rules stayed and spread (UTA system-wide July 1 under the Salt Lake County order, Ex. 018, 026; WSF under the Secretary of Health's Order 20-03, Ex. 023). Capacity limits stayed: RIPTA's 20-passenger cap (Ex. 071), the Ocracoke Express at 96 passengers (Ex. 052), AMHS vessels at 60 to 125 passengers with testing-to-board on the Bellingham route and no shore access at port calls (Ex. 083), WSF walk-on occupancy enforcement (Ex. 023). The MDTA made cashless tolling permanent on August 6 (Ex. 106). 2020 Q4 and 2021 Q1. The commuter reductions returned or continued: MDOT MTA cut MARC and Commuter Bus again from November 2 with ridership on those services down 87 to 89 percent (Ex. 004); WSF asked the public to limit ferry travel to essential trips over the holidays under the State's November rollback (Ex. 024) and reported 2020 ridership at its lowest since 1975 with walk-ons at 20 percent of 2019 (Ex. 096); AMHS built its winter schedule 'with reduced service to most communities' (Ex. 084); the NCDOT Ferry Division quarantined 17 employees and cut Pamlico Sound service in December (Ex. 053). From February 1, 2021 the CDC conveyance order and TSA directives federalized the transit mask requirement, and CTtransit and RIPTA restated it as their rule (Ex. 012, 072). 2021 Q2 and Q3. When New York lifted its general restrictions on June 15, 2021, the MTA stated the next day that masks remained required on every train and bus under State health department and CDC requirements (Ex. 090); RIPTA's June 7, 2021 page enforced the TSA requirement by denial of boarding with its transit centers still closed (Ex. 072); MDOT MTA's page as captured July 12, 2021 required masks 'for the duration of your ride' and continued the MARC and Commuter Bus reductions (Ex. 005); the NCDOT Ferry Division's September 2, 2021 release required masks of every passenger and employee 'regardless of vaccination status' under CDC and TSA requirements and cut the Hatteras-Ocracoke route from 60 to 44 daily round trips for isolation of staff (Ex. 054); WSF's Sidney, B.C. route remained closed under the border restrictions through the quarter (Ex. 019, 096); MDTA's cashless regime and toll-enforcement forbearance remained (Ex. 105, 106). The cluster's instruments are of four kinds and the records say which: two force-of-law State mandates and one county order implemented by a State agency (Ex. 080, 082, 047); twenty-three implementing rules under governors', health officers' or federal orders (mask and screening conditions of carriage; carry-out-only plazas; rest-area closures); thirty-five binding operating rules of public authorities on their users (cashless tolling; passenger caps; rear-door boarding; access restrictions; facility closures); thirty-four service announcements graded context (schedule reductions, statements and statistics that record the orders' operation); one private operator's notice; five files that failed to capture.