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BOSTON (WBZ NewsRadio) — With masks not required on public transportation as of April, a recent poll indicates that half of Massachusetts residents would like to see a mandate come back.
A recent public opinion poll from Suffolk University and the Boston Globe asked residents if they thought people riding public buses, trains, and the subway in the Commonwealth should or should not be required to wear face coverings. To which, just over 50 percent answered that masks should be required on public transportation, while a little over 40 percent said they should not be required. 8 and a half percent of poll-takers said they are undecided on the issue.
WBZ's Drew Moholland took to the T, riding from Medford and Kenmore on the Orange and Green Lines, and estimated that roughly a third of passengers were wearing masks onboard.
In April, a federal judge struck down the Biden administration's national mask mandate for planes, trains, buses and other forms of public transportation but agencies in Massachusetts largely kept their requirements immediately after the ruling. It wasn't until about a week later that the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority announced that riders would no longer have to wear masks on their services.
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According to CBS, the Justice Department has filed an appeal seeking to reverse the judge's ruling that effectively ended the national mask mandate on public transit.
The SU and Globe poll also asked if people thought the COVID situation in the Bay State was getting better, staying the same, or getting worse. On that question, more than half of participants answered that they believed things were improving on the COVID front, while 23 percent said they felt it was relatively staying the same.
WBZ's Drew Moholland (@DrewWBZ) reports.
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