Train and Bus Cleaning

Of all the smells that greet subway riders, the faint scent of bleach should actually be a welcome one. American transit systems have started to increase their cleaning efforts and even deploy hand sanitizers in stations; the City reports that New York City transit has been disinfecting its whole bus and subway fleet every 72 hours and “high-touch surfaces” twice a day since mid-March.

Many international cities set the bar even higher. The Seoul Metro disinfects trains, stations, and platforms daily. The Beijing Metro disinfects common station surfaces (like escalator handrails) every hour; the Taipei Metro does the same every four hours. In an entire post on this subject, transit blogger Alon Levy notes that Singapore cleans its train stations three times a day and bus stations twice daily.