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It's Dead.
Author: TriSec    Date: 08/22/2020 10:17:12

https://www.treehugger.com/thmb/BbcpDs5SG8EkuajtZj9YB8mMmwE=/692x692/smart/filters:no_upscale()/__opt__aboutcom__coeus__resources__content_migration__mnn__images__2016__06__tumbleweed-on-road-fa3b23dafafa43daa8ce5229542a0189.jpg



A recent picture of downtown Boston.

As you all know, I drive a tour bus for a living these days. Like many industries in this city, we shut down abruptly way back on March 16. Holding on to hope during the long intervening four months, we cleaned the barn, organized vehicles, re-wrote manuals, antd helped move homeless people around the city to better shelters.

Then at the end of May, we ran out of money. Suddenly, half the managers in the building were laid off, myself included (on the flimsiest of premises, I might add.) Fully unemployed, it dragged on another month before the slightest glimmer of hope arose.

Monday, July 13, we tried operating again. Of course, there are new protocols about separation and masks, as well as frequent cleaning of those high-touch surfaces on the trolley.

It's not made much of a difference. On our best day, we carried just over 100 people. Just yesterday, I drove through Boston for over an hour on an empty tour vehicle. At 11:30 am, on a Friday in August.

It's not known how much longer we can continue to do this bleeding money the way we are. On a "normal" day now, we have 8 trolleys operating in the city - that's a rate of one every 30 minutes. Last year, we'd be running 8 per hour to maintain a ten-minute service throughout the day.

This could have been managed so easily. But it was all a liberal hoax. At least in some places, it was taken seriously. Massachusetts' worst day was April 24; 197 people died in this Commonwealth from Covid. April 21 saw more than 3,900 people hospitalized with the disease.

We cracked down, and as you can see, all the numbers and graphs have been trending in the right direction ever since. Yesterday we reached new lows - 431 new cases and just 13 deaths. That's a statistic 'normal' - more people die in this Commonwealth on a daily basis from cancer or heart disease.

But it came with an enormous cost. The city was virtually shut down for four months. Retail, restaurants, services, all these businesses suffered. Tourism was the fourth largest industry in Boston (after healthcare, education, and finance), but I shudder to think how far down the list we've fallen.

Both the Governor and the Mayor have instituted many restrictive policies concerning visitors to this state - but none of them are actually being enforced. It's the honor system, but as we all know, most Americans these days are selfish bitches with little sense of honor or common good. (Case in point - in Christopher Columbus Park yesterday, I observed a maskless person with a "Sturgis 2020" T-shirt on, but I digress.) I am here in the middle of it all, but I wonder how that's being read around the country - we've essentially told everyone that Massachusetts is closed and to stay away.

The regular tourist season comes to an end on Labor Day. Normally, we're heading into "peak" in Boston at that time - last year, we had over 100 cruise ships visit the city during foliage season of September and October. All of them have cancelled this year.

I don't know if tourism will survive - you might see many companies on the "permanently closed" list over the winter.



 
 

1 comments (Latest Comment: 08/23/2020 13:16:15 by BobR)
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