A mid-afternoon train on the Red Line heading out of Fields Corner Station. (Photo by Bruce Mohl)

THE MBTA estimated 106,000 people rode the subway system on Tuesday, which is about a fifth of the normal passenger level.

Bus ridership was also off, with an estimated 198,000 passengers on Monday, down about 50 percent from normal levels.

As the coronavirus prompts more and more people to stay in their homes, the T is seeing its trains and buses running with fewer and fewer passengers. Even so, the transit authority made a few adjustments on Wednesday to the scaled-back services it launched on Tuesday – adding buses on some routes and additional trains at specific times to the Blue Line and the E branch of the Green Line, which serves the Longwood Medical Area.

According to the latest figures, validations at gated subway stations were down 68 percent on Monday and 78 percent on Tuesday compared to the average for the week of February 24. The T stressed the numbers are preliminary and may be adjusted.

Bus ridership on heavily used routes were also down on Monday – 58 percent on the 1 bus, 52 percent on the 66, 79 percent on the 73, 72 percent on the 9, and 66 percent on the 57. Ridership was down only 24 percent on the 28 bus and 26 percent on the 23 bus.

Bruce Mohl oversees the production of content and edits reports, along with carrying out his own reporting with a particular focus on transportation, energy, and climate issues. He previously worked...