SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS RADIO) – Ten days after the previous mandate lapsed, masks are once again required on BART.
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The agency's board of supervisors on Thursday night voted to require masks aboard trains and in its stations effective immediately until Oct. 1. BART officials will meet again on Sept. 22 to decide whether or not to extend the requirement.
BART's mask mandate expired on July 18, although the agency said it still "strongly" encouraged riders to wear masks. The requirement's expiration coincided with the Bay Area's surge in COVID-19 cases amid the spread of the omicron BA.5 and BA.4 subvariants.
All of the counties in BART's service range – and the Bay Area counties that don't – have "high" COVID-19 community levels as defined by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which calls for mask-wearing in public indoor spaces. None of the Bay Area counties have required masks again amid the latest surge.
"Free face masks are available at station agent booths and from all safety staff for those who need one," BART said in a release on Thursday night. "BART PD will continue its education-based enforcement of the mask requirement by offering free masks to anyone who needs one before taking any enforcement action which could include a citation up to $75 or being ejected from the paid area."
The California Department of Public Health's guidance on masks "highly" recommends masks offering "the best fit and filtration," namely N95, KN95 and KF94 masks.
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