For many ‘essential workers,’ public transit is a fearful ride they must take

“I’m not okay,” Sabrina Lott said as she boarded a Red Line train at the Bethesda Metro station one recent weekday. “It’s just how it is.”

Lott, 50, picked out a seat near the doors and sat her backpack down next to her, settling in for the commute home to Southeast from Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, where she works as an administrative assistant.