OAKLAND (CBS SF) — The BART Board of Directors on Thursday morning voted to reinstate a temporary mask mandate that will remain in effect into July, according to transit officials.
KPIX 5 Reporter Anne Makovec, who was following the meeting online, tweeted about the vote shortly after 11 a.m., saying that the mandate will remain in place through July 18.
BREAKING: The BART Board just voted to re-instate a temporary mask mandate until July 18. Staff will have masks on hand to give to anyone who doesn’t have one. More at noon. @KPIXtv @CBSNBayArea @SFBART #BART
— Anne Makovec (@AnneKPIX) April 28, 2022
READ MORE: Livermore Teenager, Family Member Arrested In Fatal Shooting Of Richmond Girl
The board voted 7-0, with Directors Debora Allen and Robert Raburn abstaining, to require masks within BART’s paid areas.
Makovec said that BART staff will have masks on hand to provide to any commuters trying to enter the transit system without one.
The requirement applies to trains and all portions of stations beyond the fare gates. according to a release issued by the agency. Children ages two and under as well as people with medical conditions that prevent them from wearing masks will be exempt from the mandate.
Station agents and train operators will not be responsible for enforcement.
BART officials said the mandate could be extended by the BART Board beyond the July 18 date if circumstances call for the extension. Details on the reinstated mandate were posted on the BART.gov website.
“I strongly support requiring a mask to ride BART to keep all our riders safe,” said BART Board President Rebecca Saltzman said in the release. “I’m especially concerned for our riders who are immunocompromised, people with underlying health conditions, and children under the age of five who are not yet eligible for vaccination.”
Saltzman had previously announced that the Board of Directors would consider a proposal to bring back a mask mandate on the system at its April 28 meeting.
At Thursday’s BART board meeting, public comment was overwhelmingly in favor of the plan.
“I’m for it [reinstating mask mandate]. I know we are trying to go back to normal, but I remember there was a time when normal wasn’t really good for us,” said commuter Charles Anderson. “Since we are still in this pandemic, we need to take every precaution we can.”
“I kinda understand [people being upset], but at the same time for me personally, I’m still wearing my mask,” said rider Danaya Sirieon. “If it makes other people feel more comfortable, I’m still willing to do it.”
“The intention is not to have a permanent mask requirement on BART,” Saltzman said. “The reality is we’re still in the midst of a public health crisis, and in the past three weeks cases have been going up every day in the Bay Area.”
Virtually all riders throughout the BART system have complied with previous mask requirements. Mask audits conducted four times per month in the first three months of the year found 97 percent compliance in January and 98 percent in both February and March.
Riders who refuse to comply with mask requirements after an initial warning have been given citations starting at $75 and climbing as high as $250, but BART Police Chief Ed Alvarez told the board Thursday that it has been exceedingly rare for officers to cite riders.
READ MORE: 2 Baby Brandon Kidnapping Suspects Arraigned on Multiple Felonies; Third Suspect Released
Alvarez estimated BART police officers have given just seven citations for failing to wear a mask over the last two years, and said officers have been very successful by just reminding riders that masks are required.
Alvarez also said he did not have data immediately available on how many riders have been ejected from the system over the last two years for refusing to put on a mask.
“Our officers and anybody wearing a BART police uniform always carries free masks for giveaways and that’s where we’ve pretty much gotten most of our compliance,” Alvarez said.
Director Liz Ames suggested doing away with the citations in general in an effort to prevent BART police officers from potentially receiving pushback from non-compliant riders.
“I just think we should just give them a mask and not even do the citation,” she said. “I mean, just don’t even get into a big conflict because right now, the country’s in conflict over this, and we don’t need more.”
While Allen and Raburn both said they actively wear masks aboard BART trains and plan to continue doing so, Raburn suggested BART’s requirement would undermine the authority of public health officials while Allen argued BART police officers simply have more pressing issues to deal with throughout the system.
Allen also said she felt the board did not have enough data and information on the efficacy of the different types of masks to consider whether a requirement would keep riders safe en masse.
Allen and Raburn both advocated for BART to continue strongly recommending the use of a mask in lieu of requiring it.
“The fact is, today, most passengers are masked,” Raburn said. “Enforcement without a health department mandate is problematic.”
In addition to Saltzman, BART board members Bevan Dufty and Janice Li helped prepare the proposal to reinstate the mandate.
“We really felt like we needed to move forward with our own to protect our riders, and particularly the most vulnerable communities,” Saltzman said last week. “I would much prefer for the federal or state or the county health officers to come together and mandate this, but short of that, we have a responsibility to BART riders.”
To support her decision, Saltzman cited the rising COVID cases in the Bay Area and the fact that children under age 5 still are not yet eligible for vaccination.
Masks became optional on BART trains and inside the transit system’s stations last week after the state’s Department of Public Health dropped its public transit mask requirement on April 18.
MORE NEWS: Mark Zuckerberg Net Worth Up $11B In Single Day After Meta Stock Soars
BART was not alone. San Francisco Muni, Caltrain, Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority and AC Transit all have dropped their mask mandates.
Source: sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com.