Effective immediately, face coverings are mandatory on Transit Windsor buses.
Exemptions will be for children under the age of two and persons with disabilities or medical conditions that prevent a person from wearing a facemask.
Executive Director of Transit Windsor Pat Delmore, tells AM800 News one of the main reasons for the decision was because it's such a challenge to accommodate physical distancing requirements on a bus.
“We feel it's a safety measure for all of our riders to give them that comfort that by having mandatory mass onboard our buses, they're entering a safe environment.”
Delmore says masks will not be provided if somebody doesn't have one.
"So we are asking everyone to be prepared and be ready, however we are just similar to going into many stores, you are required to be brining in your own mask and that is what will be required on transit,” he says.
Because the rule is effective immediately, Delmore says there will be a grace period to allow for education.
"Recognizing it will take a couple of days for people, for the message to get out, and that's OK," says Delmore. "We've got messages on our announcement system onboard the buses, so anybody boarding a bus today will hear those messages, all of our communications, our website, everything has been updated."
With the requirement to wear a non-medical mask, Transit Windsor will remove some of the social distancing signs from seats, returning the busses to near-normal capacity.
Once a bus reaches 20 passengers, a sign will be displayed indicating the bus is full and it will pass normal stops.
When possible, Delmore says an additional bus will be inserted into service.
It was also announced on Thursday, in order to address rider service needs, effective Monday, July 13, the South Windsor 7 route will resume a Saturday schedule, Monday through Saturday.
Transit users are reminded to check the website for all schedule information.