Updated BRITE Operations Amid COVID-19 Crisis

The COVID-19 situation continues to evolve. As an essential service, BRITE is operating with some modifications to protect operators and riders, and to keep transit free and accessible.

The Commonwealth Transportation Board (CTB) authorized statewide public transportation operating funding for all Virginia public transportation agencies to support their pandemic response. BRITE received over $40,000. This funding does not require a local match.

BRITE is using the emergency response funding to:

• Extend fare-free service on all fixed and paratransit routes until the crisis is over.
• Provide bonus or hazard pay for front-line employees. Virginia Regional Transit (VRT) is working tirelessly to keep service running with zero delays thus far. We are grateful for their dedication.
• Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) is still very difficult to find. We are working hard to locate and procure available PPE and provide them to the front-line employees.

In addition to these measures, we are following statewide guidance by implementing stricter social distancing on the buses:

• Bus capacity will be restricted to maintain 6 feet of distance between occupants of the bus and seats not in compliance will be covered.
• Buses will begin their routes and once they reach capacity the bus will change the marquee to “out of service”.
• When at capacity, the bus will then travel to its closest destination for an onboard passenger.
• If a demand-response vehicle is free and nearby, that bus can assist either by assuming the route or extracting passengers from the full bus for direct drop-off.

Thank you for supporting our efforts to maintain this essential service in the safest way possible. Please direct questions to the customer service phone number, 540-943-9302.