U.S. Chamber of Commerce event today on reopening to include Metro CEO Phil Washington

Metro CEO Phil Washington participated in the “Path Forward,” an online event Monday, April 27, that was hosted by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and looked at the many questions facing the transportation sector during recovery from the current pandemic. In the above audio, the section with Phil begins at the 41 minute mark.

From the Chamber:

America is beginning to consider what it will take to restart the economy after a lengthy shutdown. It’s increasingly clear that the most likely approach is a gradual, phased reopening linked to regional conditions. But any effort to bring millions of people back to work comes with lots of big, complicated questions.

Path Forward, a new program from the U.S. Chamber Foundation, is designed to help business and community leaders find the answers they need to develop a responsible reopening strategy. When will it be safe to reopen? How do we protect employees and customers from the coronavirus? Where will my staff get COVID-19 tests? Masks? Gloves? Who’s going to pay for all this?

The speakers included:

Suzanne Clark, President, U.S. Chamber of Commerce

Raj Subramaniam, President and Chief Operating Officer, FedEx Corporation

Rick Cotton, Executive Director, Port Authority of New York and New Jersey

Nuria Fernandez, Chairman, American Public Transportation Association; and CEO, Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority

Phil Washington, CEO, Los Angeles Metropolitan Transportation Authority

Phil is also chairing the national recovery task force for the American Public Transportation Assn. Phil also spoke about impacts of the pandemic and looked ahead to some issues that will need to be tackled during last week’s Metro Board meeting — see this post for more about that.

The event begins at noon today on the West Coast and 3 p.m. on the East Coast. You can register here. If you can’t watch, a recording of each episode on the Chamber’s website, Facebook page (see the audio recording above) and YouTube channel.

 

2 replies

    • I don’t think that transit is/was the only place that people contracted the flu. People gather in a lot of places.

      Steve Hymon
      Editor, The Source