Early on in the coronavirus pandemic, Joanna Pinkerton and her team and her team at COTA realized they had a problem.

At a time when public health officials were encouraging people to keep their distance, entering a bus and paying a fare required passing within 6 feet of a driver. The COTA team quickly realized they needed to pivot, asking passengers to enter in the rear of the bus – where there aren't machines available to accept fares.

The solution? All COTA rides are now free.

"It was a pretty easy answer," Pinkerton said. "We knew it was the right thing to do."

Still, with ridership down dramatically, fares zero and the sales tax receipts that make up the lion's share of COTA's income taking a hit as people stay home, COTA's readying for challenges when it comes to its budget.

Check out the latest episode of our Crisis Management podcast to hear how Pinkerton is navigating through those issues, and the other challenges that come with running a transit service during a global pandemic.