*Lifting of Covid mask mandate on US transportation horrifies health experts.*

It horrifies me, too. Yesterday I went to a party in a well-ventilated space. When I got to the transfer station at Park Street I found that the train line from there was shut down; we had to take shuttle buses instead. There were not enough shuttles so there was a long line. People were waiting in line for half an hour, standing quite close to strangers, to board a packed bus; most of them had no masks. I decided not to ride a bus under conditions like that.

I waited quite some time and saw that the line was not getting shorter, so I tried to look for a taxi. No one could point me at a functioning taxi stand, there in the heart of Boston. A hotel bell captain tried to phone for a taxi for me, and got no answer. I did see some taxis go by in the street but there was little chance of finding an empty one.

On returning to the shuttle stop, I found that the line had become short and buses were no longer packed. I reached the party over two hours delayed; many of the people had already left.

A mask requirement by itself would not have prevented this problem, and I would not ride on a packed bus even if everyone had a mask. But it would have reduced the amount of infection that took place on those crowded buses.

The airlines that have gleefully eliminated mask requirements will regret it when sick employees lead to cancelling flights.