SEPTA now requiring riders to wear masks
PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- Starting Monday, SEPTA will require all riders to wear a face mask or covering to reduce the spread of COVID-19.
"To help continue efforts to reduce the spread of the coronavirus, beginning Monday, June 8 everyone riding SEPTA will be required to wear a face mask or covering. #FlattenTheCurve," SEPTA tweeted Friday.
The transit agency has been strongly urging customers to wear face coverings while riding, but it was not a requirement.
In April, SEPTA had issued a policy requiring riders wear masks, but reversed its decision after videos of two separate incidents were posted on social media.
One video showed a man being pulled off a bus by several Philadelphia police officers after the bus driver called 911. A police report stated the rider caused a disturbance on the bus stemming from a disagreement over wearing a face mask.
The second video circulated showed a SEPTA worker telling people on a bus to exit if they didn't have masks. The worker then directed one man, who was wearing a bandanna over his mouth, to get off the bus.
Regular schedules are in effect on most SEPTA bus routes, trolleys, the Norristown High-Speed Line, Market-Frankford and Broad Lines.
