CDC to revise mask requirements concerning outdoor areas of transportation systems
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) plans to revise its face mask requirements for people and employees using transportation conveyances and transportation hubs.
The revised order will not require masks while outdoors on conveyances or outdoors on the premises of transportation hubs. While the order applies to all people regardless of vaccination status, CDC recommends non-vaccinated people continue to use masks as a risk mitigation measure.
“Conveyance operators must continue to require all people onboard to wear masks when boarding and disembarking, and for the duration of travel, unless they are located in outdoor areas of the conveyance (if such outdoor areas exist on the conveyance). Operators of transportation hubs must require all persons to wear a mask when entering or while located in the indoor premises of a transportation hub,” the CDC said.
The planned revision will not affect existing exemptions or exclusions and is subject to how federal partners and state and local entities define “outdoors.” CDC states it understands “outdoor” to refer to any open-air area.
CDC issued an order in January 2021 that required the wearing of masks by people on public transportation conveyances or on the premises of transportation hubs. In support of the CDC guidance, Transportation Security Administration extended its own order requiring the use of face masks through Sept. 13, 2021.
CDC says it will amend its January order as soon as practicable to align with its guidance for fully vaccinated people. Until CDC can amend the order, it “will exercise its enforcement discretion regarding certain aspects of the order to not require that people wear masks in these settings.”
Mischa Wanek-Libman | Group Editorial Director
Mischa Wanek-Libman is director of communications with Transdev North America. She has more than 20 years of experience working in the transportation industry covering construction projects, engineering challenges, transit and rail operations and best practices.
Wanek-Libman has held top editorial positions at freight rail and public transportation business-to-business publications including as editor-in-chief and editorial director of Mass Transit from 2018-2024. She has been recognized for editorial excellence through her individual work, as well as for collaborative content.
She is an active member of the American Public Transportation Association's Marketing and Communications Committee and served 14 years as a Board Observer on the National Railroad Construction and Maintenance Association (NRC) Board of Directors.
She is a graduate of Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism and Mass Communication.
