MTA Will Use UV Light Pilot Program To Kill COVID-19 On Subways and Buses

The New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) will use ultraviolet light to remove the coronavirus from its subway and bus system, officials announced on Tuesday. Many New Yorkers have been waiting to go out but have held back due to how unsanitary the MTA is. Though the MTA has been sanitizing all trains, some of us wonder what took them so long to do this in general. For those New Yorkers that ride the train everyday, ask them if they’ve ever seen someone clean the trains.

The ultraviolet lights are an outcome of phase one of the $1 million pilot program. They will distribute 230 UV light lamps sometime next week on some trains, buses and MTA facilities. Don’t expect to see the lights on during the day as they will be used overnight during closures and at the maintenance yards.

Columbia researcher Dr. David Brennan told NBC New York, ”We've shown that the UV light that is going to be used in the overnight bus and subway disinfection program is very efficient in killing the virus that is responsible for COVID-19.”