Few on Metro Vancouver transit masking up post-mandate: crowd-sourced data

TransLink riders are reporting that mask-wearing is now the norm on about two in 10 trips, a rate far lower than cities in which mandates remain in effect.

TransLink riders are reporting that mask-wearing is now the norm on about two in 10 trips, a rate far lower than cities in which mandates remain in effect.

Transit app began collecting crowd-sourced data from users across Canada and the U.S. in mid-April, soon after mandates began being lifted in some jurisdictions. Metro Vancouver dropped the requirement on March 11, when the province ended the mandate for indoor public spaces.

"Because of that sudden change in rules, we wanted to provide some actual data to help people understand if this was having an impact on what people were seeing on the ground," explains Transit app spokesperson Stephen Miller.

"It's really just about getting reliable information of what people are seeing when they're on board."

Riders who have the app are asked once per trip if "most," "some," or "few" people are wearing masks. The app has a dashboard showing the per cent of trips where people answered "most."

Since the survey launched in mid-April, results for TransLink have ranged from a high of 24 per cent to a low of 16 per cent.

At the same time, the rate of mask-wearing has varied but generally remained much higher in cities where the requirement has remained in effect like Montreal, Toronto, Calgary and Edmonton.