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COVID-19 Information

The content linked below is available for historical purposes. FTA is no longer updating this content and it may not reflect current COVID-19 guidance.

Federal Mask Requirement

From January 2021 to April 2022, the federal government required masks on public transportation conveyances and at transportation hubs. As a result of a court order, effective April 18, 2022, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) January 29, 2021 Order requiring masks on public transportation conveyances and at transportation hubs is no longer in effect. As of April 18, 2022, the CDC stopped enforcing its Order, and the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) stopped enforcing its mask-related security directives.

This does not preclude transit agencies or local governing bodies from implementing their own requirements for face masks. Transit agencies may continue to recommend or require face masks on public transit. The CDC continues to recommend that people wear masks in indoor public transportation settings.

Transit COVID-19 Response Program Information Collection

From March 2020 to September 2022, FTA collected information from FTA recipients and subrecipients on the impacts of COVID-19, including transit workforce counts, service impacts, and transit worker positives, fatalities, and recoveries. All agencies that provided transit service and submit reports to the National Transit Database (NTD) as urban reporters or tribal transit agencies reported this information directly. State recipients of Section 5311 grants reported on behalf of their applicable subrecipients. FTA used this data to inform FTA actions in support of the transit industry’s COVID-19 response and recovery efforts and implementation of the federal mask requirement for public transportation.

While reporting is no longer required, agencies may access previously submitted baseline and recurring forms on FTA’s Transit Integrated Appian Development Platform for information purposes and to update any previous responses as needed.

Funding

Resources

Last updated: Wednesday, April 12, 2023