Face masks optional on LTD buses

EUGENE, Ore. —(Apr. 19, 2022)— Face masks covering the nose and mouth are optional for passengers traveling aboard Lane Transit District (LTD) buses or at the District’s stations, effective immediately.

After a federal court in Florida struck down the face mask requirement on Monday, April 18, 2022, ruling that the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) engaged in improper rulemaking and failed to justify the need to extend the mandate through May 3, 2002, LTD initially maintained the face mask mandate while waiting for an official directive from the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). The TSA directive was received by LTD leadership this morning.

“This is good news for many people, but it is important that we all respect people’s choices to wear a face mask or not,” said Mark Johnson, LTD’s Interim General Manager. “I want to thank all of our passengers and LTD employees for their patience and compliance with the face mask mandate for more than a year. It has been a ‘heavy lift’ for all of us.”

View the TSA face mask directive online: https://www.cdc.gov/quarantine/masks/mask-travel-guidance.html

View the full text of the decision made by U.S. District Court Middle District of Florida Tampa Division online: https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/21636492-mask-mandate-order

LTD bus schedules and maps are available online: https://www.ltd.org/route-schedules-maps/

LTD provides more than 10 million boardings per year on its buses and EmX Bus Rapid Transit line in Lane County, Oregon. Encompassing the Eugene-Springfield metro area, LTD is a special district of the State of Oregon and led by a seven-member board of directors appointed by Oregon’s governor. LTD also operates RideSource, a paratransit service for people with disabilities, and numerous transportation options programs to promote sustainable travel county-wide.