Wearing masks is one of the strategies that transit agencies and medical experts say can help keep riders safe from coronavirus on buses and trains.
But what happens when your fellow rider doesn’t wear a required face covering? Mask-less riders are a regular complaint and some riders said they see little to no enforcement, even when train crews walk by offenders.
That’s done on purpose on some transit systems to increase mask wearing, officials said.
Instead of an enforcement blitz, many transit agencies are providing a barrage of information and hand riders a free mask, instead of a summons.
“We are not doing anything with police or employee enforcement,” said Andrew Busch, a South Eastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority spokesman. “We took the approach of outreach, from posters in our system, on vehicles, in stations, we push it out to the media and on social media, that masks are required. We build on them.”
Officials wanted to avoid diverting SEPTA’s small police force from other duties and didn’t want to put frontline employees in a situation where they might have a confrontation with a passenger, he said.
“We don’t see how that would be effective,” he said. “We don’t want to escalate (close) contact,”
Is it working? In July, SEPTA did an analysis using surveillance video and found over 81% of riders were complying, Busch said.
“We count it if they were properly wearing a mask covering their mouth and nose,” he said. “We’re trying to work on that less than 20% remaining.”
Officials are planning another video analysis in the fall.
“I think we’ll get a higher rate of compliance,” he said.
A similar approach is being used by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, where police ask travelers to put on a mask and if they don’t have one, they give them one.
On Thursday morning, PAPD Sgt. Fabian Landa was directing PATH riders to a mask giveaway in the Journal Square station. The approach is similar to SEPTA, using education and handing people masks, instead of tickets.
“It’s well received, people appreciate the effort and we’re getting thanks,” said Scott Ladd, a PATH spokesman.
Signs are seemingly everywhere, reminding people that masks are required and how to properly wear one.
“We have a lot of signage, it’s an important element,” Ladd said. “There is messaging and plenty of it so people understand. It’s across all our facilities.”
Last month, Port Authority employees gave out masks to 20,000 people at the midtown Manhattan bus terminal, he said. This month, masks will be given out at the George Washington Bridge and Port Authority bus terminals from 3-6 p.m. on Sept. 10, 15, 23 and 29.
NYC Transit uses Operation Respect, which raises awareness with sign announcements and uses a Mask Force, a network of volunteers handing out free masks to any customer who needs one, which has lead to a 92% compliance rate, said Shams Tarek, MTA spokesman.
PATCO officials said they are focused on running enough trains to allow riders to maintain social distancing and have messages that using masks protects the wearer, fellow riders and PATCO employees, said Mike Williams, a spokesman.
Both NJ Transit and PATH received donated masks from federal agencies. NJ Transit gave masks out at several stations to riders who needed one and have them at customer service.
Similar to how its Quiet Car rules are enforced on trains, NJ Transit relies on frontline employees to inform riders about mask regulations.
“I ride the system every day and I’d say there is extremely high compliance in New Jersey because we got hit so hard,” said Kevin Corbett, NJ Transit CEO, who estimated there is roughly 98% compliance. “We have some cases where people aren’t, and there is a process.”
If someone doesn’t put on a mask, a train conductor will ask them to get off at the next station. If they’re problematic, police are called to take them off, Corbett said. Bus drivers call a supervisor.
“It’s not for the conductor or bus driver to be police,” Corbett said.
While he isn’t aware of anyone receiving a summons, Corbett said “we’re willing to do it” if someone is a repeat offender.
Riders tell a different tale on social media, sometimes outing offenders with photos and complaining that crews aren’t telling them to mask up.
“Our conductors are instructed to make constant announcements reminding the passengers the Governor’s executive order requires them to wear face coverings,” said Jerome Johnson, United Transportation Workers Union Local 60 general chairman, who represents conductors. “All a passenger has to do is say they have a medical condition, and there’s nothing we can do.”
Labor leaders said employees are in the middle, especially when a request to put on a mask escalates. Confrontations have turned into assaults on employees, Johnson said.
“Assaults on our members continue to rise during this pandemic and now the passengers want us to be police on the train as well?” Johnson said. “When our members are assaulted, we do not get any assistance from the passengers, (such as) a name, business card, calling the police, or even a video.”
NJ Transit trains employees to handle those situations, Corbett said.
“We spend a lot of time with police force and with labor doing de-escalation training. (There) is a process to follow, if it starts getting out of hand,” Corbett said. “But we’ve had a number of cases. I wouldn’t say it’s a noticeable uptick, but still an issue.”
Johnson said the only issue about wearing masks should be safety.
“Everyone riding public transportation should be wearing some type of face coverings or they shouldn’t be using public transportation,” he said. “This is about everyone’s safety, not politics.”
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Larry Higgs may be reached at lhiggs@njadvancemedia.com.