WILKES-BARRE, LUZERNE COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU-TV) — In response to elected officials’ urge against travel to and from New York City, Martz Trailways has decided to shut down operations to major cities.
“Martz is one of the largest but we also have a lot of smaller transportation systems,” State Representative Rosemary Brown told Eyewitness News. “There’s buses, vans and I’m going to ask of them right now, publicly, to do their part as well.”
Brown authored a letter to Martz in an effort to keep both New Yorkers and Pennsylvanians safe from the spread of COVID-19 that could occur through interstate travel.
“We need to respect the fact that our residents really are doing the stay at home compliance so that we can stay healthy and we don’t overwhelm our hospital systems,” she said.
Martz announced Wednesday that come Friday, they’ll be suspending services for two weeks.
Former U.S. Representative Lou Barletta says it’s a start.
“It’s that contagious so I think this transportation back and forth needs to stop immediately,” he said. “I don’t think we can wait days or weeks for this to happen.”
Both Brown and Barletta agree essential personnel on the front lines need to find a way to help, but governments need to find a way to do that while lowering the chance of coronavirus spreading.
“Of course it’s very, very difficult,” Brown said. “It’s not something that I want to ask for or I ever expected to happen. We have an unusual situation. We are deeply connected and common sense prevails.”
Martz is aiming to get that service back into those major metropolitain areas by April 13th.
