“There was actually a big cheer on the plane,” one traveler at Newark Liberty International Airport reported, after flight attendants announced the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s controversial mask mandate would no longer be enforced. Most major airlines ditched mask mandates after a federal judge in Florida ruled Monday the CDC had overstepped its authority when it ordered the restriction to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
In New Jersey, PATH trains remain the only public transportation on which riders are required to wear masks. Not everyone is on board with the sudden changes. Pointing to rising COVID-19 case numbers nationwide, the CDC still recommends that people mask up on mass transit. Masks are now optional on all NJ Transit buses and trains. New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority is maintaining a mask mandate.
