TfL should enforce mask wearing

zoneking · 25 Nov 2021

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TfL should enforce mask wearing. Many people put off travelling due to lack of enforcement.

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Watershed · 25 Nov 2021

zoneking said:
Also, they should enforce mask wearing.

Perhaps they should stop trying to enforce a pointless and counterproductive measure. And focus on more important things, like revenue blocks.

zoneking said:
Many people put off travelling due to lack of enforcement.

I suspect that the percentage put off by the lack of enforcement is no greater than the percentage put off by the supposed mandate.

hexagon789 · 25 Nov 2021

zoneking said:
Also, they should enforce mask wearing. Many people put off travelling due to lack of enforcement.

Not their job and completely pointless.

Acton1991 · 25 Nov 2021

zoneking said:
they should enforce mask wearing.

TfL should remove the mask mandate and quickly. I have witnessed many heated arguments between mask-wearers and non mask-wearers that would have been avoided if they were a personal choice as per the government guidelines. It's a political move.

yorkie · 25 Nov 2021

zoneking said:
TfL should enforce mask wearing. Many people put off travelling due to lack of enforcement.

TfL asked the Government for permission to amend the Byelaws; the request was denied.

What is there to enforce? There is no legal requirement to wear a mask whatsoever.

All TfL can do is ask people to wear masks. It is clear the majority of people do not want to wear masks. Mask usage on LU is around 50% and it's only as high as that because TfL ask people to wear them. Elsewhere mask usage is tiny.

There is no way many people are not travelling due to the lack of mask wearing; on the contrary many more people are put off by any requirement or request for mask wearing.

The number of people put off by a lack of masks must be absolutely miniscule; it is also illogical as anyone who is distrusting of vaccines could wear a highly effective FFP2/3 mask, in which case it should not bother them whether or not other people are wearing flimsy surgical or cloth masks.

Richard Scott · 25 Nov 2021

zoneking said:
TfL should enforce mask wearing. Many people put off travelling due to lack of enforcement.

Sorry I just don't buy that. There may be a few but would like to see proper evidence supporting this statement. We need to get back to normal life not keep pushing these pointless restrictions. If people are worried buy an FFP3 mask, about £2.29 and stop expecting others to "keep them safe".

superalbs · 25 Nov 2021

No they shouldn't! I would be put off travelling if there was enforcement.

Jamiescott1 · 25 Nov 2021

I no longer use tfl services since the mayor spent months telling everybody not to use the tube and putting up those stupid traffic light posters (green for key workers, red for everybody else)
I had a travel card and now cycle or walk, refusing to use the tube.
£1.5k less per year that tfl get from me

Mojo · 25 Nov 2021

yorkie said:
There is no way many people are not travelling due to the lack of mask wearing; on the contrary many more people are put off by any requirement or request for mask wearing.

I agree with this. It was released last week that the footfall for the West End showed that the weekend in the middle of November was the first time that there was higher footfall in the area since pre-Covid times. Not exactly an area that you’ll see many masks despite being exceptionally busy at weekends.

Figures were also released this week that show that sales figures for Pret’s UK arm bettered their Jan 2020 figures, this being despite shops in key locations such as Canary Wharf, the City of London, Airports and Main line railway stations still being down on the same period.

Class 33 · 25 Nov 2021

zoneking said:
TfL should enforce mask wearing. Many people put off travelling due to lack of enforcement.

You must be joking. Since 19th July there is absolutely no legal requirement to wear these ridiculous face masks on public transport. And not before time too! We put up with that absolute farcical nonsense for over a year! They're absolutely ridiculous and pointless! TfL though are still keeping up with their silly PA announcements and signage all over the place about we must wear a face mask! We do NOT have to wear a face mask anymore! And TfL really need to give it up and take down all those signs and PA announcements from their trains and stations. How long do they "expect" people to be wearing these ridiculous things on our faces?! Time to move on from this nonsense and get completely back to normal.

Since 19th July I haven't really got out and about on the trains as much I'd like to. But from my observations of travelling on GWR, South West Trains, and West Midlands Railways services over the last 4 months, I'd say easily about 95% of passengers have NOT been wearing face masks. What does that tell you?! The majority of people travelling by train in this country have ditched their face masks now that we don't legally have to wear them anymore. And quite rightly so too!

NorthKent1989 · 25 Nov 2021

Sorry but we have to get on with Covid, no amount of masks will prevent you from catching it, time to move on!

bramling · 25 Nov 2021

zoneking said:
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TfL should enforce mask wearing. Many people put off travelling due to lack of enforcement.

And how are TfL going to do that?

They already have the Khan Army, the “hundreds of enforcement officers”, and they are not really interested, as the documented minimal number of interventions shows. And for their part, they’ve been put in a very difficult position when over half of users are choosing to disregard Khan’s mask mandate, and the requirement has no legal backing, as well as the fact that anyone can claim to be exempt. BTP will not get involved.

So Khan could hire some more enforcement officers to spread them a bit thicker, but this is still going to be drop in ocean territory. And is it a good use of revenue for a company which has cash-flow issues? Likewise enough of my tax has been spent on Covid measures to date, I don’t regard this as a worthwhile use of it.

Anyone who feels uncomfortable has the option to use a FFP3 mask, or to remain at home living off any savings they may have.

RailExplorer · 26 Nov 2021

Good luck getting tfl to enforce masks. Even the staff have pretty much all given up by the looks of things (the RMT did put out a statement about the lack of masks and putting its members at risk - well the membership clearly aren't that bothered).

BJames · 26 Nov 2021

bramling said:
And how are TfL going to do that?

They already have the Khan Army, the “hundreds of enforcement officers”, and they are not really interested, as the documented minimal number of interventions shows. And for their part, they’ve been put in a very difficult position when over half of users are choosing to disregard Khan’s mask mandate, and the requirement has no legal backing, as well as the fact that anyone can claim to be exempt. BTP will not get involved.

So Khan could hire some more enforcement officers to spread them a bit thicker, but this is still going to be drop in ocean territory. And is it a good use of revenue for a company which has cash-flow issues? Likewise enough of my tax has been spent on Covid measures to date, I don’t regard this as a worthwhile use of it.

Anyone who feels uncomfortable has the option to use a FFP3 mask, or to remain at home living off any savings they may have.

Exactly - and even then, there's never going to be enough officers to have one on every carriage,so people will just take them off again... most staff (and the increasing majority of passengers) don't care.

I have still only ever seen an enforcement team once, at Queensway, and never on the actual tube itself. It is a complete waste of money - as with the rest of the country's transport system (and indeed, everything else), people need to be left to make their own choices - for those who have no choice but to use public transport, and are still not confident enough to get out and about, as @yorkie says an FFP2/3 mask will do the trick. It says a lot about the choices people are making too - just because some people don't like it, doesn't mean it must be mandated to force others to follow suit (besides - even when it was mandated it was beginning to be ignored).

jumble · 26 Nov 2021

zoneking said:
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Join the campaign to protect London's public transport

London faces a transport funding crisis Transport for London have been getting financial support from the Government because of the pandemic, but this funding deal is due to expire on the 11 December. If London's transport doesn't get the money it needs after that date, we could see an 18%...

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TfL should enforce mask wearing. Many people put off travelling due to lack of enforcement.

Whenever I see a bold statement such as this I ask the person making it
How do you know?
Perhaps you could share this information with us.

As many others have said they understand that TFL cannot enforce mask wearing
Perhaps you could also tell us how you think TFL would be able to do so.

DustyBin · 26 Nov 2021

I agree with the responses above. We need to move on from pointless rules and petty authoritarianism.

Merseysider · 26 Nov 2021

zoneking said:
TfL should enforce mask wearing.

I disagree.

Recommended? Fine.
Compulsory? Nope.

Anyone wanting to protect themselves can choose to wear an effective mask.

The rest of society can continue getting on with normal life.

Bertone · 26 Nov 2021

Merseysider said:
I disagree.

Recommended? Fine.
Compulsory? Nope.

Anyone wanting to protect themselves can choose to wear an effective mask.

The rest of society can continue getting on with normal life.

With the increases of daily infection rates, hospital admissions, ambulances queuing to ”offload” the patient plus this new emerging variant, I am quite disappointed that a number of people posting, appear to be very dismissive of mask wearing.
When you experience the effects that this deadly virus has, and I don’t use the word deadly lightly, perhaps you will appreciate that for some families they will never regain normal life again!

DustyBin · 26 Nov 2021

Bertone said:
With the increases of daily infection rates, hospital admissions, ambulances queuing to ”offload” the patient plus this new emerging variant, I am quite disappointed that a number of people posting, appear to be very dismissive of mask wearing.
When you experience the effects that this deadly virus has, and I don’t use the word deadly lightly, perhaps you will appreciate that for some families they will never regain normal life again!

But what’s any of this got to do with wearing a piece of cloth over your face?

Bantamzen · 26 Nov 2021

Bertone said:
With the increases of daily infection rates, hospital admissions, ambulances queuing to ”offload” the patient plus this new emerging variant, I am quite disappointed that a number of people posting, appear to be very dismissive of mask wearing.
When you experience the effects that this deadly virus has, and I don’t use the word deadly lightly, perhaps you will appreciate that for some families they will never regain normal life again!

And how do you account for the fact countries where mask mandation is far more widespread are still seeing big increases? Answers on a postcard to SAGE....

Ted633 · 26 Nov 2021

Bertone said:
With the increases of daily infection rates, hospital admissions, ambulances queuing to ”offload” the patient plus this new emerging variant, I am quite disappointed that a number of people posting, appear to be very dismissive of mask wearing.
When you experience the effects that this deadly virus has, and I don’t use the word deadly lightly, perhaps you will appreciate that for some families they will never regain normal life again!

We have a vaccine, case numbers are not as significant anymore, especially as most are in children and young adults who are at minimal risk

Hospital admissions have been declining since the end of October

Unfortunately, ambulances queuing to offload is nothing new and would happen with or without COVID.

initiation · 26 Nov 2021

Bertone said:
With the increases of .... hospital admissions

The number of people both being admitted to hospital and in hospital has been declining for about a month now. Please stop spreading such mis-information.

Richard Scott · 26 Nov 2021

Bertone said:
With the increases of daily infection rates, hospital admissions, ambulances queuing to ”offload” the patient plus this new emerging variant, I am quite disappointed that a number of people posting, appear to be very dismissive of mask wearing.
When you experience the effects that this deadly virus has, and I don’t use the word deadly lightly, perhaps you will appreciate that for some families they will never regain normal life again!

We've been through this numerous times on other threads, masks aren't of any use in limiting spread.

adc82140 · 26 Nov 2021

Bertone said:
With the increases of daily infection rates, hospital admissions, ambulances queuing to ”offload” the patient plus this new emerging variant, I am quite disappointed that a number of people posting, appear to be very dismissive of mask wearing.
When you experience the effects that this deadly virus has, and I don’t use the word deadly lightly, perhaps you will appreciate that for some families they will never regain normal life again!

The queues of ambulances are being caused by the crisis in the care sector, leading to sometimes over 100 bed blockers in a hospital, leading to a logjam in A&E. Nothing to do with Covid.

Daily infection rates are stable.

There are 1000 fewer in hospital with Covid this week than last week.

By the way, did you wear a mask in 2019 because of the deadly flu virus. Or any other of the deadly winter respiratory viruses? I'm wondering why you've picked out this particular coronavirus?

brad465 · 26 Nov 2021

How good is enforcing fare evasion on TfL these days? I'd be enforcing that more strongly if that's the case, enforcing masks is a waste of resources.

Cowley · 26 Nov 2021

And I think that’s probably a good point to leave this.
We probably all know each other’s views on this and it’s not worth having yet another thread about masks for everyone’s sake.

TfL should enforce mask wearing

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