Detroit's QLine will completely cut its service for the foreseeable future.
Officials say the streetcar service will temporarily cease at 8 p.m. on Sunday, March 29 due to the impact of the coronavirus, which has decreased transit demand on Woodward Avenue.
The cut in service was also to help stop the spread of the disease.
"The decision to temporarily pause service is important to help protect the health and safety of our customers and employees, and follows discussions with our local transit partners about the severe decrease in travel along the QLINE route," a QLine spokesman said in a press release.
"This is a difficult decision to make but after discussion with our team, stakeholders and partners, it’s clear that DDOT and SMART services are sufficient to serve the transit needs of essential employees in Detroit," M-1 RAIL CEO Matt Cullen said in a statement. "Once workplaces and institutions along the Woodward Corridor begin re-opening and activity resumes, QLINE will begin the process of resuming service."
The bus transit options are DDOT (4-Woodward) and SMART ( 461/462 FAST Woodward).
The news comes just days after officials said
QLine service would be reduced by 50%.
Earlier this month, DDOT drivers
refused to work due to coronavirus concerns. Service resumed after the city reached a deal to clean the buses more thoroughly.
"We didn’t want to get sick, and we didn’t want you to get sick," Glen Tolbert, president of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 26, which represents bus drivers, said at a news conference. "We need to be safe."
Detroit
is becoming a hotspot for the spread of the coronavirus. On Monday, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced an
executive order calling on all Michigan residents to stay inside as much as possible for the next three weeks.
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