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.”
While Adam Brandolph, a spokesperson for Port Authority, said the company doesn’t know how many people do or don’t wear masks on its vehicles, he said drivers continue to monitor that riders wear masks if they don’t have a medical exemption.
“If the customer does not have a mask or refuses to wear one, Port Authority police will be called and a mask will be supplied to the customer,” Mr. Brandolph said. “If they continue to refuse to wear a mask, they will be asked not to ride the bus.”
He didn’t immediately have the statistics on how many times Port Authority police were called because someone refused to wear a mask, but said no one has been cited or arrested.
Anecdotally, it seems like most people are complying with guidelines. On a recent ride, the majority of people were wearing masks. Emily Kalanish, 23, of Castle Shannon, said on her daily commute on Thursday, she only saw one person not wearing one.
Ms. Kalanish takes the T Downtown every day to get to her job as a swim instructor at the British Swim School in Robinson. She said she favors wearing masks, but doesn’t mind too much if someone isn’t wearing one.
“I personally still feel comfortable wearing my mask. I would prefer to wear it,” she said. “I don't really feel uncomfortable if somebody doesn't have theirs on, but I always still wear mine.”
On his bus ride from Oakland to the Giant Eagle in Shadyside, Harold Tate, 68, shared his thoughts about the mask requirement. He said he agrees with the requirement because it’s federal law, and it helps keep him safe. Mr. Tate rode the bus every day during the pandemic.
But he said he’s still excited about the requirement being lifted statewide and a hopeful return to normalcy as COVID-19 cases decrease.
“It feels pretty well,” he said. “We’re doing what I expected.”
Rebecca Johnson: rjohnson@post-gazette.com and Twitter @rebeccapaigejo
First Published: June 27, 2021, 4:00 a.m.