NEW YORK - MTA leaders are setting expectations for its ambitious effort to close subways overnight from 1 a.m. to 5 a.m. for the duration of the pandemic, while making sure more than 10,000 commuters can still get to work or home.

It is unprecedented, but MTA leaders say it is necessary to clean and disinfect every subway car in its fleet each day, something that could not be accomplished with the system running around the clock and becoming de facto shelters for homeless people, who will be removed from the system with the help of social workers and the NYPD.

The cleaning will be a 24/7 operation, with 500 extra cleaners at terminals and at yards overnight.

The MTA is also testing new disinfectants, some that claim they will eradicate the virus for up to 90 days, as well as the use of ultraviolet light.

The backbone of this plan is the MTA’s bus system, which will see more than 1,100 extra trips and more than 300 extra buses on the road.

There will be 61 bus routes, including local and express routes, getting a service boost, including key lines that serve hospitals. That will include lines that serve NYU Langone Bellevue and NewYork-Presbyterian in Manhattan, Saint Barnanbas Hospital in the Bronx, Kings County Hospital in Brooklyn and Long Island Jewish Medical Center in Queens.

The MTA is also letting people sign up for a single door-to-door taxi and for-hire car service trip, like Uber, for commuters whose bus trips would be longer than an hour and a half, or require three or more transfers.

Riders can get information and fill out a travel questionnaire at mta.info/overight.

MTA officials stressed that there will be issues that need to be worked out but the agency will adapt as needed.