Betting markets had favored April 18 as the day the federal mask mandate on public transportation would finally get lifted. That is basically what happened — but from an unexpected source.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention weren’t quite willing to drop it just yet, having extended the mandate from April 18 to May 3. A federal judge in Tampa, Florida, however, stepped in.
“As travelers have been reminded for more than a year, federal law requires wearing a mask in airports, train stations, and other transportation hubs as well as on airplanes, buses, trains, and most other public conveyances in the United States,” began Judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle’s ruling. “Failure to comply may result in civil and criminal penalties, including removal from the conveyance.”
That all ended with Mizelle’s judgment that “the mask mandate exceeds the CDC’s regulatory authority and violates the procedures required for agency rulemaking under the [Administrative Procedure Act]. Accordingly, the Court vacates the mandate and remands it to the CDC.”
Mizelle found that the CDC, in issuing the mandate, was using an interpretation of the Public Health Services Act that didn’t square with the original legislation authorized by Congress in 1944.
“Within the past two years, the CDC has found within [PHSA] the power to shut down the cruise ship industry, stop landlords from evicting tenants who have not paid their rent, and require that persons using public conveyances wear masks,” she wrote. “Courts have concluded that the first two of these measures exceed the CDC’s statutory authority under [PHSA].”
She proceeded to add the third strike to that list and put the CDC out of the mandate game, at least for now.
While many transportation agencies began to take the mask orders away, a few resisted.
New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority, for instance, is keeping the mask mandate, meaning that bus, subway, and rail passengers will have to keep masking.
At the same time, Washington, D.C.’s Metro dropped the masking rule. In many cases, however, most Metro passengers still wore masks, at least initially.
The Washington Examiner consulted experts in flight and transit to see what effects this decision would likely have on travelers and commuters.
“A lot of people are taking their masks off!” said Gary Leff, author of the influential travel website View From the Wing. “It varies regionally, and of course, in some parts of the country, mask compliance was already relatively low.”
Leff related that “plenty of people were flying with masks off when I traveled on Sunday, before the ruling.” In fact, even a flight attendant in Charleston “was wearing a non-compliant mesh mask.”
He also suggested that it may take a while for many people to work out what they want to do personally about masking.
“There’s a certain taboo now to taking off the mask in airports and planes,” Leff said. “Many people feel a little guilty or naughty doing it. Some people are trying to figure out if it’s ok to go maskless. Of course, some people also still choose to wear one, and some will wear better masks in order to protect themselves.”
He suggested that markets anticipate a shift to much less masking as mandates go away and COVID-19 shifts from pandemic to endemic.
“One interesting effect of Monday’s ruling is that the price of masks has fallen dramatically!” Leff said. “A quick search of Amazon shows prices being cut in half, with 100 disposable masks now even less than $6. KN95 masks are available for 25 to 35 cents apiece, and N95 masks under $1.”
Steven Polzin, a research professor of transportation at Arizona State University, thinks this could be good news for transit ridership, which has taken a massive hit over the last few years.
“Depending on the course of the virus, I do think this is good for public transit going forward,” he told the Washington Examiner. “There are some people that find the masks are a real nuisance and uncomfortable, and this will make them more willing to use public transit.”
He cautioned that it might have the opposite effect on at least a subset of riders.
“Certainly, there are some folks that will feel this puts them at greater risk when riding, in spite of the fact that the individual can choose to continue to wear masks if they want to, so some individuals may choose not to use public transit,” Polzin said.
In total, he doesn’t believe that the lifting of the mandate will have a huge effect on ridership.
“While most likely positive for transit ridership, I don’t think this will be dramatic, and given the ongoing resumption of greater activities and return to work, it would be challenging to attribute ridership changes to the mask rules going forward,” Polzin said.
He was hopeful that the ruling would bring social peace on one front.
“I think one of the biggest benefits will be to the transit agency employees and, to some extent, even the passengers, as there is tension between the compliant and non-compliant mask wearers that can be polarizing and stressful,” he said.
And ideally, this ruling could help alleviate one source of that stress.
“The job of front-line transit professionals is now extraordinarily challenging,” Polzin said. “I’m sure they will be delighted to not have to deal with mask compliance.”
