Nearly two weeks after masks became mandatory on Winnipeg city buses, most riders seem to be following the rules.
Both the transit union and the City of Winnipeg peg compliance at around 90 per cent or greater.
“I believe the message is clear and people are complying as much as possible,” says Romeo Ignacio, president of Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) 1505.
“I’ve never heard of any issue in regards to people outright not wearing masks.”
Riders won’t be denied service for not covering up, however they could face a $100 fine, something the city says hasn’t happened yet.
“Our primary focus is on information and education,” a spokesperson for the city said in an email.
“Winnipeg Transit inspectors continue to hand out single-use masks to aid with education, and single-use masks are still available for members of the public at Winnipeg Transit Customer Service Centres.”
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The city is monitoring the masks “through visual observations carried out by on-street supervisors stationed at strategic locations, and other personnel,” while the transit union reported drivers’ anecdotal observations.
Ignacio says he’s content with where things are right now, and doesn’t think compliance should be forced to any greater degree just yet.
“We don’t want our members to enforce the masks because there’s more than enough issues that we have to deal with,” Ignacio says.
“We know that just like fare disputes, this is just going to be another assault in the making, or another altercation.”
The protocol right now if there are compliance issues, Ignacio says, is for drivers to contact the control centre and have inspectors sent to deal with it, but so far he hasn’t heard of one instance where that has happened.
“Mind you, we are still in the first two weeks … and I’m not sure how much more masks they have available,” Ignacio says, referencing the city’s plan to distribute masks to the public for two weeks, or until supplies run out, so people get used to the requirements.
The union leader says they would like masks to be made completely mandatory, as long as funding is made available to Winnipeg Transit so they can be provided to riders who don’t have them.
“If you give them the mask, I’m pretty sure they would wear it, and if not, then that’s the point where you would have to give them a ticket for not complying,” Ignacio says.
In an email, a city spokesperson said 160,000 disposable masks had been delivered to city facilities as of September 4, and council had previously approved $250,000 for the masks, but didn’t indicate whether or not there were plans to purchase more.
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