Masking On NJ Transit: Patch Readers Sound Off

NEW JERSEY — Last week, Patch sent a survey out via email to our New Jersey readers, asking if they would still mask up on public transit and on airplanes after the federal travel mask mandate was struck down.

Here's what we found.

A majority of those surveyed (60.5 percent) said they would keep the mask on, and 39.5 percent said they would not. In total, 2,748 people answered.

Patch also asked respondents to share why or why not they would still mask up. Here is what a few of our readers said.

"I'm older, vaccinated and boosted, but I don't want to catch the virus," said one person who voted "yes." "I'll continue wearing a mask until this is really over. I might then wear it during flu season. I just don't want to get sick."

"We’re all dealing with a really lousy situation," said another person who voted "yes. "Anything that will help increase my odds at staying healthy is what I will opt to do. Wearing a mask on my face is really no more constricting than wearing gloves to keep my hands warm in winter or wearing a bra," the person continued. "People need to choose their battles, I don’t see how this is worth arguing about. If everyone could make consistent commitments to responsible choices in the first place perhaps we wouldn’t still be stuck in the same place 2 plus years later."

"Unless it is a properly fit, N95 or better mask, the protection is questionable," said a person who answered "no." "Plus, we can’t live like this forever. We are not meant to be micromanaged in every step of our lives as humans with free will."

"The mask policies are strictly political," another "no" respondent wrote. "Even the CDC said the cloth masks are ineffective they recommended a properly fitted N95 however almost everyone will be wearing a cloth mask or those cheap blue masks, so why would the CDC have a mask mandate allegedly for public safety but allow mask which themselves say are ineffective, and when the Covid first hit the whole world was wearing masks and it still spread like wildfire."