Utah Transit Authority announced Tuesday that it was lifting its mask mandate for riders after a federal judge in Florida ruled the Biden administration’s directive to require face coverings on airplanes and public transportation was unlawful.
The decision comes nearly two years after the agency first imposed a masking requirement for all its riders to stem the spread of COVID-19.
“In response to the federal court ruling, UTA is no longer requiring masks to be worn on our system. We continue our enhanced cleaning and disinfecting measures, and will keep providing masks on our buses and trains for riders who wish to use them,” the transportation agency wrote on Twitter.
Major U.S. airlines — such as Delta, Southwest and Frontier — have also dropped their mask mandates. The Salt Lake City Airport International Airport on Tuesday said it would continue to “provide masks to those requesting them and suggests passengers continue to wear masks as recommended by the CDC.”
In the court ruling, U.S. District Judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle said the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention failed to explain its mask requirement.
“The CDC issued the mask mandate. The mandate exceeded the CDC’s statutory authority … and failed to adequately explain its decisions,” Mizelle wrote. “The Court declares unlawful and vacates the mask mandate.”
