While people stayed at home to prevent the spread of COVID-19, the state that put the world on wheels saw its rivers of cars shrink to a trickle.
But as Michigan moves toward reopening, local car dealerships and Battle Creek Transit are preparing to help people get to where they need to go.
Buses in Battle Creek have not stopped running since March, although service had to be modified to allow for social distancing.
"We can't just shut down," said city of Battle Creek Public Transit Director Mallory Avis. "For some people, we're the only form of transportation they have, and whether it's going to get groceries or going to the bank, they rely on us, so being open really was our biggest priority, but making sure we could do it safely."
Service shops at car dealerships remained open, too, to make sure that people could take necessary trips to pick up food and other essentials.
More: Gov. Gretchen Whitmer extends Michigan stay home order to June 12
"We've been lucky that they've been open, but they probably haven't been busy up until last week," said Jim Demaagd, owner of Demaagd GMC Nissan in Battle Creek. "Then... things sort of broke loose in service, and there's a lot of pent up demand there... The appointments have been very, very heavy, and almost back to normal in terms of service."
Car sales have been slower, and Demaagd said there was a 15-day period where his sales department was shut down.
"I don't want to call it a ghost town, but it was a ghost town in the showroom," he said. "Doors locked. No one in. No one out. No one selling any cars. No one pricing of any cars. Just kind of dead in the water."
The dealership was able to adapt by offering more remote service. Demaagd said that his dealership always offered at-home shopping and delivery for buying a car, but it's never been used so much.
He estimated that business, while down, is at 80% of what he would normally do and demand is starting to pick up again.
"We're starting to see more people on the lots now, and we're starting to see more traffic," Demaagd said.
Showrooms were slated to reopen May 26, and, although Demaagd said in the short term there will be more safety precautions in place, such as extensive cleaning, he doesn't think the business of selling cars will change much.
Is Michigan flattening the curve?: Compare coronavirus cases in your area to the rest of the U.S.
"There may be people that we deliver cars to now...That may be what happens in the future, is that more people demand services door-to-door at their house," he said. "But I don't know if it will change our business... like a year from now, I think we'll be back to doing business the way we were before this whole mess."
How public transit in Battle Creek is changing
Public transit in Battle Creek is expecting changes though.
In March, Battle Creek Transit was expecting to increase fares this summer to help with operating costs. Since the outbreak began, though, buses have waived fares for riders, and Avis said she doesn't know when they will return.
"That's part of our safety measures, and we understand that this has had an economic impact on a lot of people," she said. "We have decided to hold off on the fare increase. We did not include it in the fiscal year '21 budget because we're simply not sure when we're going to begin collecting fare at all, again, and I imagine we will revisit that fare increase with the commission in the future, but for right now, it is off the table."
Avis said that Battle Creek Transit is looking into ways to set up electronic fare payments without having to expend a lot of capital upfront to get a system in place.
Fares weren't the only thing Battle Creek Transit cut. Weekend service with BC Go was discontinued because drivers were needed during the week to operate more buses, and Avis said it was important to prevent employees from being burned out.
"I'm not sure when we're going to bring that back," Avis said about BC Go. "But I think that until we're confident that we have the staff and the ability to provide those trips safely, I think we'll discontinue that one."
Transit now has about twice as many buses along its routes to limit ridership to 10 people per bus. That means there are twice as many drivers working each shift, according to Avis.
Battle Creek Transit has also had to alter its maintenance schedule to deal with having more buses out on the road and is thoroughly disinfecting the buses each night, Avis said.
"We've had to build the plane as we fly it," she said. "I know people are worried about social distancing and face masks and things like that, and we are following all of the CDC guidelines. We are making sure that our drivers and our passengers are protected the best we can, and public transit is safe to use, and as we go back to normal, I hope that the people who used public transit before will come back to us "
Contact Elena Durnbaugh at (269) 243-5938 or edurnbaugh@battlecreekenquirer.com. Follow her on Twitter at @ElenaDurnbaugh.
"car" - Google News
May 28, 2020 at 04:15PM
https://ift.tt/2Ag1yBM
Car dealers reopening showrooms, public transit making changes - Battle Creek Enquirer
"car" - Google News
https://ift.tt/2SUDZWE
https://ift.tt/3aT1Mvb
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Car dealers reopening showrooms, public transit making changes - Battle Creek Enquirer"
Post a Comment