Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) is temporarily closing the indoor waiting areas at all transit center locations to prevent the spread of COVID-19 (coronavirus).

There are 20 such stations, listed below.

The closures go into effect March 27 at 5 pm. All transit center waiting areas will be closed, but riders are allowed to use the outdoor areas for boarding buses and light rail vehicles. They haven't shut down outside yet.

If there's any "good" time of the year to close off the indoor waiting areas, this is it, while the weather is moderate.

Station personnel who previously provided "concierge" duties have been reassigned. Their new duties: monitor and amplify customer service initiatives and augment DART's enhanced cleaning protocols on all bus and light rail vehicles.

In another measure: On all DART buses with rear doors, customers will be required to use that rear door to board the bus. The theory is that entering at the back of the bus reduces social contact between you and the bus operator.

It also would seem to reduce scrutiny on your bus pass situation, but DART spokesperson Mark Ball says that many regular customers are using DART's GoPass app or else have monthly passes.

"They still need to have a ticket," Ball says. "They can wave their phone at the operator to show that they have a ticket purchased on the app. They need to keep their distance as best they can when purchasing a ticket on the bus or just use our app and show the operator from a distance that it's activated. No need to closely walk past the bus operator if it's not necessary."

Passengers are urged to practice social distancing while waiting to board DART vehicles and while on all buses and trains. IE keep a six-foot distance between fellow riders and your DART operator.

The impacted DART transit centers include:

• Addison Transit Center (Addison),
• Arapaho Center Station (Richardson),
• Bernal/Singleton Transfer Location (Dallas) ,
• Central Business District (CBD) East Transfer Center (Dallas),
• Central Business District (CBD) West Transfer Center (Dallas),
• Cockrell Hill Transfer Location (Cockrell Hill),
• Downtown Garland Station (Garland),
• Downtown Irving/Heritage Crossing Station (Irving),
• EBJ Union Station (Dallas),
• Hampton Station (Dallas),
• Illinois Station (Dallas),
• J.B. Jackson, Jr. Transit Center (Dallas),
• Jack Hatchell Transit Center (Plano),
• Lake June Station (Dallas),
• Lake Ray Hubbard Transit Center (Garland),
• Ledbetter Station (Dallas),
• Parker Road Station (Plano),
• Red Bird Transit Center (Dallas),
• South Garland Transit Center (Garland),
• Westmoreland Station (Dallas).

DART Customer Service is available seven days a week for routes, schedules, trip planning assistance, and other DART questions. Call 214-979-1111.

DART has information on how it responding to the coronavirus pandemic at DART.org/health.