Toronto exploring if it’s legal to make masks mandatory on TTC

Mayor John Tory says the city is looking at whether it’s legally possible to require commuters to wear masks on the TTC.

And on Friday he announced a coalition of banks, universities aaand other large organizations that have committed to allow the majority of their employees to work from home until at least September to continue limiting the risk of spread.

“The TTC has made it clear that as ridership starts to increase again, the ability for people to physically distance themselves in transit vehicles will diminish very quickly,” Tory said at a press conference at city hall. “This will be one of our biggest challenges of the restart and post-COVID Toronto.”

Tory said city officials thought it would only be responsible to look into mandatory mask use as they consider all options as part of the reopening plan, but haven’t made any determinations yet. In the meantime, officials are strongly recommending wearing face coverings when taking transit as the city works to create alternatives with new bike aa lanes, approved at council on Thursday, and streets closed to vehicle traffic.

The organizations that have agreed to prioritize working from home include many of the major financial institutions and schools largely concentrated in the downtown core — along with the City of Toronto itself.

Saad Rafi, who is leading the Toronto Office of Recovery and Rebuild, said there was a “high RR degree of co-operation” from businesses about working from home, saying the pandemic has been especially challenging for corporations where teambased and flexible workspaces were becoming the norm.

The TTC has said it isn’t up to the transit agency to compel passengers to wear masks, and has raised concerns about how such a rule would be enforced.

“The direction to wear masks would have to come from govor public health officials, along with a mechanism to support such direction that would not put TTC employees in conflict with customers,” TTC spokesperson Stuart Green said in an email.

Tory said Friday that how such an order would be enforced and who is best to make an order like that is part of what the city is considering.

Normally, the TTC carries about 1.8 million riders every day, but ridership has dropped by about 85 per cent.