Posted on 06/28/2021 8:43:29 AM PDT by Tolerance Sucks Rocks
On a sunny Friday morning, Lindsey Baker was waiting at a bus stop across from Carlow University in Oakland. Clad in typical summer clothing — shorts and a T-shirt — Ms. Baker, 23, was biding her time for a bus to take her to Robinson, where she works as an assistant manager at the clothing store Maurices.
But one piece of clothing she was wearing is becoming increasingly unnecessary in Pittsburgh and Pennsylvania — a mask.
The Pennsylvania Department of Health is lifting its order requiring universal face coverings on Monday, but this doesn't apply everywhere. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention still require masks regardless if someone is vaccinated or not in some places — hospitals, jails and mass transit, among others.
In line with these guidelines, Port Authority also requires face coverings for nearly all riders and employees while on board and inside stations. The company did lift capacity restrictions on its 720 buses and light rail vehicles last week and is planning to install new air purification systems on all of its vehicles. Ridership remains about 60% below pre-pandemic levels.
“I’m half and half about it. I mean, we're in that questionable period where it's like is it OK, is it not OK,” Ms. Baker said about the continued mask requirement on Port Authority vehicles.
“I mean, yes, we are taking our masks off, and losing the mask policy at a lot of places, but it's better to be safe than sorry,” she said. “With public transportation still being where a lot of people come through, you don't really know where people have been or how their sanitation is.”
(Excerpt) Read more at post-gazette.com ...
He said he agrees with the [transit mask mandate] requirement because it’s federal law, and it helps keep him safe.
The CDC mask mandate is actually a bureaucratic fiat, just like eviction relief, not a law passed by Congress.
Coronavirus PING!
My understanding is that there is a NATIONAL mask mandate for all public transportation until September 13th. I don’t think this is something for which the rules are being made on any local basis. JMO
I thought that it was more of a guideline or a recommendation, although naturally Amtrak would likely enforce it, being a strictly federal transit agency.
More info here:
https://www.transportation.gov/safety/mask-travel-guidance
Pennsylvania Ping!
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Airport regulation was the catalyst for the TSA.
They've never before extended their swastika claw into busses and trains.
Defund public mass transit. Put it back into the private sector. I don’t like my tax dollars going to morons.
A mask is not a piece of clothing unless you are muzzie.
I’m disgusted when people call masks *clothing*. They are not. They are muzzles, signs of subjugation.
You are allowed to take a drink of water occasionally right? And what if you’re alone in a truck for a long ride?
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