Yakima Transit Hoping for COVID-19 Funding

If you are feeling ill don't ride the bus. That's the message Yakima city officials have for Yakima Transit riders. And while transit systems around the state are expecting federal financial help to pay the bills it's unclear how much if any money will come to Yakima. Transit agencies in Puget Sound are getting some $500 million in funding from the Federal Transit Administration. The administration is announcing it's distributing $25 billion included in the recently passed federal COVID-19 relief package. The money is meant for lost funding for transit systems to cover the extra costs of cleaning as ridership plummets and tax revenues shrink.
Yakima city officials were expecting at least $6 million but city spokesman Randy Beehler says it's unclear as to how the money is being distributed by the state so city officials don't know how much if any funding will come to Yakima Transit.
Yakima Transit, despite the COVID-19 pandemic is operating on a regular schedule.