Most transit users now wear masks, STM says

Montreal commuters have, for the most part, been heeding government directives to wear masks on public transit.

During the last week, the first in which masks were made mandatory, 86 per cent of métro riders and 87 per cent of bus passengers wore masks, the Société de transport de Montreal reported. In the week previous, when wearing masks was recommended but not mandatory, only 60 per cent of riders wore face coverings.

On June 30, Premier François Legault decreed masks would be mandatory as of July 13, but included a two-week leeway period during which passengers are still allowed to board without one.

As of July 27, passengers not wearing a mask are supposed to be barred from using public transit. The union representing Montreal bus drivers has said, however, that their employees are not police officers and they will not be enforcing the law. A union spokesperson noted that a bus driver in Bayonne, France, was beaten to death in early July after he asked four passengers to wear a mask before boarding his bus.

Some commuters have criticized the fact that Montreal bus drivers are not wearing masks, arguing they are setting a poor example and endangering the public. The STM and drivers’ union, however, said that Montreal’s health authority and the provincial labour safety board have deemed masks are not necessary for bus drivers because there are either barriers ensuring passengers are kept more than two metres away, or in many cases riders still have to board by the rear of the bus.

Plastic barriers separating drivers from riders are gradually being installed, and some riders were able to board from the front of the bus as of Monday, where they have to validate their bus tickets.

Installations of plastic barriers will continue through early August.