SEPTA (Southeast Pennsylvania Transit Authority), which is the 5th largest transit system in the US has announced its collaboration with Lumin-Air. This collaboration will let SEPTA’s bus fleet be retrofitted with MERV-13 equivalent filtration. These filters are the same ones that were recently installed at the Wells Fargo Center to improve indoor air quality.
MERV-13 filters are recommended by experts due to the fact it remove small particles and at least 85% of the droplet nuclei that people exhale donating virus cells. These filters will primarily play their part in removing contaminate from the air that recirculates inside the bus, essentially providing the passengers and driver with fresh and healthy air.
Bruce Kramer, SEPTA Senior Project Designer said “Removing airborne contaminants inside our fleet is another strategy in our layered approach to keep riders, coach operators, and SEPTA team members safe.”
Lumin-Air’s Dan Fillenwarth added, “The key to our solution is increasing filtration efficiency without reducing airflow. Our filters last three times as long as standard bus filters, so our solution is a very economical way to improve the health and safety of riders and bus operators. SEPTA continues to be an industry leader in prioritizing safety and will be the first transit system on the east coast to retrofit their fleet with filters that are this efficient.”
Desmond Cole, SEPTA Senior Project Engineer said, “When exploring available technologies, we felt strongly about the need to remove contaminants and not add anything (chemicals, ions, or gases) into the air people breathe.”
The process of this filtration upgrade is underway as SEPTA has already revised the first shipment of the filters will be completed over the next several months.