Business View Magazine | August 2020

150 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE AUGUST 2020 BVM: How is GoDurham adapting during the coronavirus pandemic? Middleton: “Speaking to the business challenges presented by COVID-19, the big impact is the reduction in ridership. Here’s the kicker – for 30 years in the industry, I’ve been espousing the benefits and advantages of using public transit and I’ve been out in the front lines promoting our industry for many years; talking to city councils and business districts and promoting service. And now I’m doing the opposite. Telling people to stay off the system and only take it for essential rides. That was painful for me and probably the biggest challenge. However, as a transit system, GoDurham has fared better than most. Many systems have lost 70 to 90 percent of their ridership, we’re probably at 50 to 60 percent of normal, as of the time of this interview, which is pretty darned good comparatively. Public transit is a tremendous essential service, especially in Durham, where a lot of people rely on the bus system. The things we had to do to protect our employees and our riders is really extreme but critical. And we have now resumed full service.” BVM: What are the goals for the next five years? Middleton: “Most transit systems have a five or 10 and 20 year strategic plan. We’re a little different, in that the city establishes the plans for us – they create plans and work with us through our partnership with GoTriangle. That being said, I have my own goals and desires for where I think public transit should start thinking strategically and devoting resources. And there are a lot of defining paradigms that are going to occur over the next few years. It’s hard to say with much confidence where we’ll be in the future, because we (as an industry, not just an agency) have to figure out right now what happens post-pandemic. Are we going to be able to restore our full ridership or are we going to have to change our service delivery model to improve efficiency and safety first to attract riders back? All transit Commercial Vehicle Tires | www.continental-truck.com Thank You Durham City Transit For Being A Valued Customer!