TransLink increasing bus cleaning that reaches "every nook and cranny"

TransLink is changing up the routine for how its buses are cleaned to reflect the latest research on the best practices for COVID-19 health safety in public settings.

The public transit authority is shifting to hiring 10 additional full-time employees who are dedicated to deep cleaning buses, allowing for an increase in the frequency of buses being deep cleaned to every two months from every three months prior to the pandemic.

• See also:
  • TransLink pilot project finds copper surfaces kill 99.9% of pathogens within one hour
  • TransLink testing technology that continually sanitizes air on buses
  • Public washrooms are the top request in TransLink’s new consultation on amenities
  • TransLink putting big new emphasis on customer service moving forward
  • Free WiFi rollout on all TransLink buses and trains begins this year

This process to deep clean a bus takes about four to five hours, and it completely cleans the interior, penetrating surfaces.

Earlier this week, TransLink spokesperson Tina Lovegreen told Daily Hive Urbanized the type of deep cleaning being pursued “reaches every nook and cranny of the buses.”

But this comes as a reallocation of resources dedicated to a pandemic-time cleaning protocol, with TransLink subsidiary Coast Mountain Bus Company now ending its electrostatic spray, which was done twice every week on each bus, with each spray taking about four minutes.

“This decision was made because of the emerging research on COVID-19 transmission and the effectiveness of the spray,” she wrote in an email.

“We determined that increased frequency of deep cleans and daily disinfecting of all touch points results in a higher level of cleanliness and protection for our customers.”

TransLink maintenance crews performing enhanced cleaning and disinfecting on a bus. (TransLink)

The deep cleaning supplements TransLink’s “rigorous cleaning protocols” performed nightly, which target high-touch points for disinfection.

In addition to changing and increasing the frequency of cleaning protocols, the public transit authority has also implemented pilot programs, such as testing copper materials for high-touch surfaces, given that copper can naturally kill 99.9% of bacteria and viruses. It is also testing the addition of photocatalytic oxidation technology to the HVAC systems of buses to sanitize both the air and surfaces inside vehicles.

• See also:
  • TransLink pilot project finds copper surfaces kill 99.9% of pathogens within one hour
  • TransLink testing technology that continually sanitizes air on buses
  • Public washrooms are the top request in TransLink’s new consultation on amenities
  • TransLink putting big new emphasis on customer service moving forward
  • Free WiFi rollout on all TransLink buses and trains begins this year