How many times have you heard ‘a smartphone has more germs than a toilet seat’?  

Whether you realize it or not, handheld items like your smartphone, wallet, keys, and even your PRESTO card can carry lots of germs. Since the outbreak of COVID-19, the need to regularly wash and sanitize your hands has been a recommendation from health officials around the world. But in today’s mobile world, your hands are only as clean as the cellphone you touch.  

So, the big question is, how often do you sanitize your handheld items? Regardless of the answer, there’s good news. 

Starting April 19, CleanSlate UV sanitizers will be rolled out across select GO Transit and UP Express stations for customers to sanitize their electronic items on the go. And they are free to use.  

The safety of customers is a top priority, so throughout the pandemic Metrolinx has implemented over 40 safety measures to ensure everyone remains healthy. In addition to CleanSlate UV, Metrolinx has installed seat dividers on GO trains and buses and UP trains, increased the deep cleaning at stations and on vehicles and provided hand sanitizer dispensers on every bus, train and station.  

Using sanitizing machines from CleanSlate UV, a Canadian biosafety company, is another way to help keep people safe. Sanitizing machines that harness the power of UV light to kill up to 99.9 per cent of germs on smartphones and other handheld items in only 20 seconds. 

The UV machines can sanitize more than just mobile phones. They can be used to sanitize any non-porous surface. This includes items like tablets, keys, access cards, watches, pens, and pencils (if you still use pencils) and more. They can all be sanitized within seconds using a CleanSlate UV machine. 

UV light is among the best solutions for sanitizing electronics, as it will not damage devices with the use of chemicals, it eliminates human error, and it is the fastest, most effective method available. 

In fact, this technology has been used in other industries for more than 30 years.  

GO Transit customers can find CleanSlate UV at 18 different stations including Union Station, Union Station Bus Terminal, and the Hwy 407 Bus Terminal.   

UP Express passengers can also find the machines within UP Express Union Station and Pearson terminals.  

They’re just one part of Metrolinx’s ‘Safety Never Stops’ program.  

And remember, face coverings remain mandatory when travelling on GO Transit and UP Express – and they are still the best way to prevent the spread of germs. 

Want the latest COVID update from Metrolinx, just go here.