Starting on Friday, the C-U Mass Transit District will implement a reduced schedule of their routes, mostly affecting campus and late night routes. 

“The decision was made after extensive analysis of service demand, workforce availability, and new demands related to adequate COVID-19 pandemic response,” a news release sent by Autumn Soliman, marketing manager of C-U MTD reads. 

During the weekdays and weekends, the 22/220 Illini will run on a 20 minute frequency schedule instead of the usual 10 minute frequency. All late night routes will end shortly before or after 1 a.m. both on weekends and weekdays. 

During fall and winter breaks, MTD will extend their reductions and decrease more routes’ frequencies. All changes can be found on their website. 

MTD has continued to take steps toward preventing the virus from spreading and encouraging social distancing. Fare collection and pass validation has been suspended to avoid the exchange of cash and transfers. Larger vehicles have been put to use to encourage social distancing by passengers. Additional buses have been placed around the community for backup to prevent capacity issues. 

MTD is also in the process of installing hand sanitizer dispensers on each bus and van, and it provided its employees with face coverings. Additionally, the buses are fully sanitized each night. 

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