Last stop — all germs off

It's flu season, the guy next to you just sneezed and the bus driver slams on the brakes. You have two choices: go flying across the bus, sprawling across a few startled riders, or grab onto that bar crawling with germs.

Some things can’t be avoided, but when it’s something like the flu, we try anyway.

Thanks to a germ-killing product in Bombardier's newest buses and trains, lunging for that handrail on lurching public transit may not seem so daunting anymore.

According to the company's website, the Bombardier Antimicrobial Surface Treatment is sprayed onto surfaces and creates a permanent barrier which kills germs on contact. It uses the AEGIS Microbe Shield Technology, which has actually been around in some hospitals and gyms for more than 30 years.

The technology was invented in the 1970s, initially to treat medical textiles, according to the AEGIS website. For the past 15 years, it has been extended to other areas as well.

Ottawa's light rail O-Train already uses Bombardier's Antimicrobial Surface Treatment.

The product can be sprayed onto any surface to permanently bond to it. It’s made up of positively charged molecules which electrocute microbes on contact. It’s effective against viruses and bacteria and it helps prevent mould in hard-to-reach places.

It's being rolled out in Bombardier vehicles across Canada, including the O-Train, Ottawa’s light rail train, and Toronto’s new subway cars.

Toronto Transit Commission spokesperson Mike DeToma says Bombardier had just made the new technology available when the TTC was in the market for new subway cars. It therefore bought anti-germ treatment as part of the deal.

“Our riders are always telling us that one of the ways we can improve the experience of TTC for them is cleaner stations, cleaner subway, and cleaner buses,” he says.

“It made sense. There’s a new feature out there that’s available for the new trains, let’s make sure it’s there.”

DeToma couldn’t say how expensive the product alone was, because it's bundled in a larger package.

Transit companies eyeing new technology

The germ-killing spray was also used in the showcase car connecting a SkyTrain station to Granville Island in Vancouver during the Winter Olympics.

Jim Hopkins of the British Columbia Rapid Transit Company, which runs the SkyTrain, says the company is considering buying the product for all its trains. He says people are always worried about others making them sick when they’re on the bus.

“The public at large, whether they get on an airplane or a bus or a train, they’ll say the people around them aren’t as healthy as they are,” he says.

Basically, you don’t want to touch anything. — Tina Morgan

If you’re on a train and someone beside you sneezes, you’re bound to get some germs on you, Hopkins adds.

Hopkins says Vancouver will also consider including the product in any new train deals. Cost and effectiveness will be important factors, he says.

“If the cost of making subtle improvements is relatively low and we can demonstrate that it’s effective, we’ll consider it,” he says.

“Revolutionary” for people most at risk

For Tina Morgan, who has Primary Immunodeficiency Disease, riding the Toronto bus system every day is a challenge.

Health Canada says hand washing is the best way to protect against germs. 

“Basically, you don’t want to touch anything,” she says.

If she contracts a virus or bacteria, her immune system won’t be able to fight it off as easily and she’s at a greater risk for complications, she says. Because of that, she always has to take extra precautions. She brings hand sanitizer everywhere, even though she realizes it’s not 100 per cent effective.

Morgan says some people may even wear masks if there’s a flu outbreak or if they take a plane because they don’t want to contract a virus.

She's noticing improvements in dealing with the spread of germs in public places. For example, there are more and more garbage cans beside public washroom doors on the way out, says Morgan. People can then use a paper towel to open the door and then throw the towel in the garbage, avoiding the dreaded washroom door handle.

This anti-germ technology sounds pretty revolutionary, Morgan says, and could do a lot for people who are reticent to use notoriously germ-infested public transit or flights. On the other hand, she wouldn’t want to rely on this type of product and stop being careful. 

As for yourself, when you're on one of these treated transit trains, go ahead, hold onto that bar. Unless you actually enjoy sitting on strangers. In that case, you'll have to rethink your "Sorry, I'm a germaphobe" line. 

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