News
GRTC Further Enhances Daily Bus Cleaning
May 20, 2020
Press Releases
For Immediate Release
May 20, 2020
For more information, contact:
CARRIE ROSE PACE – (804) 516-4148 – carrie.rosepace@ridegrtc.com
GRTC Further Enhances Daily Bus Cleaning
OBS Janitorial contracted to help disinfect fleet.
RICHMOND, Va. (May 20, 2020) – This month, GRTC contracted with Original Building Service, Inc. (OBS Janitorial) to assist with daily fleet cleaning. Each night as buses return home to GRTC, a team of 15 cleaners assists maintenance staff with disinfecting high-touch surfaces on every bus, including seats, floors, handrails, pull-cords and the driver’s area.
Since mid-March, GRTC has offered voluntary overtime to its bus cleaners and other maintenance staff to ensure 100% of the high-touch places on every bus were disinfected nightly. However, contracting with OBS Janitorial provides a longer-term, cost-effective solution that also minimizes GRTC staff burn-out during this public health emergency.
GRTC Chief Executive Officer Julie Timm says, “The GRTC team is committed to finding solutions, especially those that support local small businesses, that help us meet enhanced disinfecting protocols during COVID-19. OBS has provided reliable facility cleaning services for us for six years, and I know they will do a great job on our fleet to help GRTC’s efforts for public health.”
OBS is a locally owned janitorial company, certified as a SWaM Small and Minority-Owned Business. OBS owner Jean Oh says, “As the entire world is sharing this experience together, we look forward in doing our part by providing our wholehearted support to our local community with the services it needs to get the passengers and bus drivers to their destinations in a safe environment.” OBS provides janitorial services around Central Virginia serving commercial, government and medical facilities.
OBS is contracted separately to clean GRTC’s headquarters. High-touch surfaces at GRTC facilities and vehicles are disinfected daily with many areas also cleaned regularly during and between shifts. Staff also continue to practice social distancing and follow CDC guidance to wear cloth face coverings. Customers are strongly encouraged to wear cloth face masks or coverings while riding to protect GRTC staff and other passengers. Hand sanitizer dispensers are now available for customers on-board.
GRTC continues to procure and provide cloth face masks, protective gloves, face shields and cleaning supplies to staff. There are already 31 buses with driver shields previously installed, and GRTC is currently working to retrofit the rest of the fleet with driver protective barriers.
For the most complete and latest GRTC updates during this pandemic, please visit our website.
GRTC is a public service corporation providing mobility services in the Greater Richmond area. GRTC’s current operational budget of $53.9M primarily funds daily mobility operations and vehicle maintenance. GRTC provides more than 9.25 million trips annually.