On the morning of April 19th, I was in a decided minority on the subway platform of the Second Avenue line in New York City, wearing my mask as I have every day for the past two years. The day before, compliance with the MTA masking rule had been near-total.
The 59-page decision handed down the day before by Florida U.S. District Judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle, voiding the Transportation Security Administration's (TSA) rule requiring masking on airplanes, airports, taxis, and other forms, created a lot of confusion. The MTA is keeping their masking rules in place despite the decision. The New York City underground was the same as before.
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki told reporters on April 18 that the court ruling was disappointing.
That recommendation won't be universally followed. At least eight airlines have lifted their mask mandates. MARTA in Atlanta, SEPTA in Philadelphia, CapMetro in Austin, and New Jersey Transit allow passengers to go without masks. The mask requirements are being dropped by Amtrak. New York's MTA; Portland, Oregon's TriMet; Seattle's King County Metro; and the Chicago Transit Authority are all keeping mask mandates in place.
When masking is no longer required, passengers can board planes in cities where transit authority masking rules are in place. While air exchange systems on airplanes do a good job of keeping out diseases like the SARS-CoV-2 virus, they are not the same for buses, subways, trains, and terminals.
If no one else wears a mask, it can help protect you.
Millions who rely on buses and trains to get to work, and access essential services every day, will now be put at much greater risk.
What do you need to know about mask-wearing in order to travel safely on all modes of transit? This is what we know so far.
Regardless of whether there is an official mandate or not, the expert guidance is to wear masks on public transportation. An N95 mask is better than a surgical mask, which is better than a cloth mask, according to experts.
N95s and KN95s with their tighter fit are clearly the mask of choice to maximize protection in all situations and on all forms of transportation. Dr. Wafaa El-Sadr, professor of epidemiology and medicine at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, acknowledges that comfort and worries about starting a flight with a highly protective mask and then shucking it midway is something that people worry about.
She says that it is hard for some people to wear an N95 mask.
The recent change in masking rules played out in real-time. She was on a flight from San Francisco to New York when the pilot announced that masking was no longer required. The person sitting next to El-Sadr immediately removed his mask, as did most of the other people on the plane.
She says that about 30% of people were masked when they got off the flight. There are a lot of reasons for the court ruling striking down the mandate.
The air exchange systems on planes are a good way to clear the cabin environment of airborne viruses. Jamie Ducharme has reported that a study was done for the U.S. Department of Defense in 2020 and found that aircraft ventilation and filtration systems reduced.
The systems only go far. It is one of the most unpopular aspects of air travel, which is why most people fly in coach. The person next to you exhales a lot more air than the person next to them, so they have less chance of reaching you.
If you are sitting next to someone who is coughing or sneezing, it is a very high risk position for you.
The mix of people on planes makes a difference. Many from places with high vaccination rates and low levels of transmission come from places with more infectious conditions. It is a time of high mixing from an epidemiological perspective, and that raises the health stakes for everyone onboard.
There is a consideration of who you are meeting on the other side of the plane. The Easter and Passover travel season has just ended, Memorial Day weekend is coming up, and families and friends gather, including people who are older, have underlying conditions, or are otherwise susceptible to COVID-19. If you are exposed, you can end your journey by carrying a virus that will make someone else sick.
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It's important to remember who you're going to see.
There are few scenes more harrowing for people who worry about COVID-19 than a crowd of people on a subway platform pushing into more crowded trains, where bodies might be jammed together for the duration of the journey. subways may be a little safer than you think.
For one thing, platforms aren't as enclosed as they seem, with some openings to the outside that allow for air exchange. The closer the platform temperature is to the outside temperature, the more helpful the air will be. As the trains enter and leave the station, they may provide some relief.
Sometimes there are wooshes of air, which can help sweep away some of the stagnant atmosphere on the platform. The fact that the trains make frequent stops with doors continually opening and closing helps with air exchange.
The time of year makes a difference as well. The more out-of-towners there are on the platform, the greater the chance of people from areas with low vaccination rates meeting them. At times like these, masks can be especially important, as can social distancing, or at least as much distance as a packed platform or train allows.
It is not the same as boarding a subway. It is possible to minimize the risk of viral transmission by waiting outside instead of on an enclosed platform. If you ride the bus, you should have a mask on because you face the same crowding problems as on the subways.
Buses have an advantage over subways in that the doors open as frequently as they do on subways, but they open to the outside, allowing for a more fresh air experience. There are only so many seats on a bus and plenty of times it is standing room only.
Inter-city and local commuter trains are a little safer than buses and subways, if only because of their larger interiors, wider seats, and the opportunity they afford for greater social distance. The length of your journey is what matters in these cases. The longer you spend on the train, the more exposed you are to other people. With each stop you encounter new passengers, the odds of someone carrying the virus increases. The risk is high on Amtrak, which just dropped its mask requirement.
She says that there are trains that go from D.C. to Boston every day. People living in Baltimore or D.C. jump on and off when they work in Philadelphia. There is a step up in mixing of people from different communities with different background rates of transmission and vaccination.
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This is the most personal way of transmission, besides having your own car. It is you and the driver in an enclosed space breathing common air for the duration of the ride. The longer that ride is, the greater the risk that a virus will be passed. The mask rules have been lifted by both companies. Under the federal ruling, masks are no longer required in taxis. In New York's yellow cabs, masks are still required.
Asking a driver to mask up is awkward, but at least an option. Rolling down the windows to facilitate air exchange is your best defense. Rolling down windows on both sides of the back seat allows for cross-ventilation.
It is certain that with the new rules in place, masking guidelines will become even less so. You don't have to if others are removing their masks.
El-Sadr says that the virus has not been eradicated.
Lower-income groups have been hardest hit by the Pandemic and are more likely to use public transportation. This is a place where I think it's important to continue to mask.
Write to Jeffrey Kluger.
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