BC Transit reminds Kamloops passengers to wear masks on and off the bus

KAMLOOPS – Masks have been mandatory on BC Transit buses since late August. Now, passengers are also required to wear masks while waiting in covered shelters and on bus platforms.

“We’ve enhanced our directives to include bus shelters as well,” said Senior Media Relations and Public Affairs Advisor Jamie Weiss. “Really what we’re asking is that people make face coverings part of their entire transit journey. So, as you’re walking up to your bus stop, if you can put your face covering on and wear it throughout your journey, that will help us create a comfortable environment on our buses for everyone.”

BC Transit has partnered with the Kamloops RCMP and Bylaw Service to encourage people to wear their masks both on and off the bus. They were at the North Shore Bus Exchange Thursday morning (Dec. 3) to hand out masks.

Chris Cadarette is the shop steward for the union representing Kamloops Transit Workers. He says some passengers have refused to wear the masks on the bus.

“We’ve had a fair amount of pushback,” he said. “Things are getting better now with the mandate from the province, but the drivers are still at risk with people coming past them all the time. It’s great to have the RCMP here. We’re trying to have a presence out here and show people they can wear their masks without the enforcement.”

With tensions high during the pandemic, BC Transit drivers are trying to avoid confrontations with those choosing not to comply.

“A lot of people that don’t want to wear masks are very vocal about it and there’s been other confrontations you’ve seen in the news and we’ve had people on the bus, like other passengers, try to get other passengers to wear a mask and we’ve had confrontations that way as well,” Cadarette said.

Weiss says drivers can connect with their transit supervisor should they have a passenger on board who refuses to wear a mask.

“Obviously, if we have to call local authorities, really that is a last step that we want to take,” Weiss said. “We want to make sure that everybody who can wear a face covering is. But, we also want to remind people that we don’t know everybody’s story and not all reasons for not wearing a face covering are visible, so you can’t make assumptions about other peoples’ situations.”

Kamloops bylaw officers have taken an educational approach to the issue of mask wearing.

“The majority of the time people do want to comply, sometimes they just forget,” said bylaw officer Sandro Piroddi. “The community wants to participate and comply.”

The BC Transit awareness campaign is getting a similar response.

“If anybody hasn’t had a mask, we’ve been handing them out and they’ve taken them, they’ve worn them,” Cadarette said, “at least for getting on the bus while we’re here.”