STA fumigating a pair of buses after confirmed bedbug infestation; risk to public ‘minimal,’ agency says

The Spokane Transit Authority has taken two of its buses out of service and closed a park-and-ride restroom after confirmed reports of bedbugs.

The transit authority is following its protocol in dealing with the infestation, said Carly Cortright, chief communications and customer service officer for STA. To ensure the insects are killed, the two buses were sealed and treated chemically, and will be subjected in the coming days to high heat in the booth where STA paints buses and dries them with heat. STA also closed the bathroom at the Hastings Park-and-Ride, north of the Division Y, and sealed it for treatment on Friday.

In addition, STA plans to bring in trained dogs to inspect its entire fleet for any other signs of activity “out of an abundance of caution,” Cortright said. She could not say which routes the buses traveled because they change daily, but the infestation was reported in the past two weeks.

“The risk to the public is pretty minimal,” Cortright said. “We’re taking it seriously.”

Bedbugs have become increasingly common in the United States, with studies indicating their resurgence is linked to a ban on pesticides that once killed the insects but were determined to be harmful to the environment.

The insects are not known to carry disease, but are difficult to get rid of after they’ve infested an area because they hide in hard-to-reach places. Their bites can cause irritation and secondary infections if people bitten continue to scratch, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and contrary to popular belief, they are not more likely in areas deemed unclean.

“Bed bugs have been found in five-star hotels and resorts and their presence is not determined by the cleanliness of the living conditions where they are found,” the CDC reports.

Recent reports have found bedbugs on U.S. naval submarines, hospitals, libraries and more. In September 2018, the Metro Transit Authority in New York City removed a half-dozen buses from its fleet to treat for bedbugs, according to the New York Post.

Operations at STA are not currently affected by the bedbug reports, Cortright said.