While the country responds to the Covid-19 pandemic, mass-transit employees continue to show up day after day to ensure that emergency medical workers and other critical personnel can do their jobs for the people of New York. That’s why it’s so disheartening to watch as some in Washington use mass-transit funding as political currency.

Mass transit continues to be the lifeblood of New York, even as the frenetic city hits pause to ensure our collective health and safety.

We are in uncharted waters. Ridership has sunk to never-before-seen lows: subway ridership down by a startling 76 percent, buses by 62 percent, Metro North by 94 percent and the Long Island Rail Road by 71 percent. In a normal year, farebox revenue constitutes nearly half of the M.T.A. annual budget — about $8 billion. That’s on top of more than $6 billion in state and local taxes dedicated to the M.T.A. that is likely to evaporate in the inevitable downturn. Additionally, our top priority is the safety of our customers and employees, and we expect the aggressive disinfecting efforts undertaken to protect them to total over $300 million on an annualized basis.

The scale of the operating budget deficits the M.T.A. and other agencies face is unprecedented.

This is an extraordinary time calling for extraordinary measures. Congress needs to get that message — that it’s crucial that the coronavirus relief package include at least $25 billion in funding for mass transit to ensure that the M.T.A. and systems across the country not only continue to operate through the crisis, but also serve as the catalyst for economic growth once the pandemic subsides and the country’s pulse begins beating again.