BART's Arbitrary, Outdated Mask Requirement is an Embarrassment

On July 28, 2022, the Bay Area Rapid Transportation (BART) board of directors - Bevan Dufty, Janice Li, Lateefa. Simon, Liz Ames, John McPartland, Robert Raburn, Rebecca Saltzman, Mark Foley, Debora Allen - reinstated a mask mandate. The vote was nearly unanimous, with only Raburn and Allen opposing. As the Daily Californian reported, these two board members cited a “lack of data on the efficacy of masks” for voting against. They were overruled, however. Now, once again, passengers are required to wear masks until at least October 1, 2022.

Why?

After a brief summer uptick, Covid cases throughout California have been waning, especially in the Bay Area. In San Francisco, there are only a handful of people in the hospital with the virus. By all measure, we are, thankfully, at the end of this brutal pandemic.

Indeed much of the entire country and most of the world has moved on. Facial coverings are not required on airplanes, buses and cable cars. They’re not necessary in office buildings, retail stores, supermarkets, and restaurants. In fact, the only local places people have to wear them are healthcare settings, emergency and homeless shelters, long-term care facilities, and jails and prisons.

And now, again, on BART trains.

Why?

Let’s back up a bit. BART is a highly problematic public transportation system. Physical attacks are frequent. The trains are filthy. Human waste and drug paraphernalia can found on every car in the system. Just a few days go a man overdosed and died on one of the trains. Addicts have been openly using drugs - smoking meth and fentanyl, injecting heroin - for years now, with no change for the better. Seats are often broken, missing, dirty. Countless people don’t pay their fare, and instead jump the gates. Crime on the trains and in the stations is rampant. Even buying a ticket is a bizarrely complicated affair. The technology is mysteriously bad. It’s no wonder the Independent Institute gave BART the 2022 Golden Fleece Award for atrocious management, citing “crime, grime, and greed.”

Yet instead of fixing the most obviously pressing issues - those that drive people away from pubic transportation and into their private vehicles - BART’s board of directors have decided to focus their attention on…masks.

Why?

The announcement offered zero numbers. No, “We are doing this because we have evidence that people are catching and spreading Covid on the trains - and here it is___.” They described no offramp. No, “The mandate will end when the numbers of cases are down to ___.”

And just as odd, no major media outlet has questioned BART’s board or demanded they provide evidence to support the change.

Still, there must - there simply must - be sound reason for the decision. It’s got to be based on something tangible and logical.

So, why?

Here’s why.

After challenging Bevan Dufty on Twitter, pointing out the fact that there are currently just 21 people in the intensive care with Covid in San Francisco and that cases are trending downward, this is his response:

“Hospitalizations aren’t the only metric for the latest variant. I know many individuals who are suffering from long Covid and it is debilitating. In September we will observe @BARTs 50th with half off fares. We went [sic] our riders to be and feel safe. TY”

Therefore, Dufty knows some people with long Covid. Thus an entire metropolitan public transportation system imposed an outdated “health” restriction with no data to back it up. And nothing in place to end it.

His answer is shocking and reprehensible. It turns out that Dufty and six other BART directors arbitrarily pressed for a mask mandate not based on scientific research or data, but on personal anecdotes and opinion.

Of course some BART riders are in favor of the mandate, as was expressed by members of the Senior and Disability Action group, many of whom expressed support for the mandate. Among their motivations: to protect the immunocompromised. Such human kindness should never be derided. A respectful discussion about the topic, when desired by both parties, though? Absolutely.

In the end, there is no excuse for regressive, authoritarian behavior. Directors of a major public transportation system need to present hard data as a reason for change. I reached out to Dufty, asking him to comment further - specifically about the metrics that the BART board of directors relied on to set the mandate and what they would use to end it. He has not yet responded. If he does, I surely will add his comments to this story.