Metrolinx will fit GO Transit employees with protective face masks and has effectively stopped issuing fines for fare evasion as the provincial agency continues to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to an email sent Thursday by a Metrolinx executive to agency employees and union officials, frontline workers began being fitted for masks Thursday. Once employees are fitted with the equipment they will be able to keep them, according to the email, which was obtained by the Star. In the meantime, those who haven’t yet been fitted will be allowed to wear their own.

Metrolinx has not yet directed its employees to start wearing the N95 respirators. But Manny Sforza, international vice-president of the Amalgamated Transit Union, which represents more than 1,650 GO Transit bus drivers, station attendants, and transit officers, said his understanding is the agency won’t prevent employees from using them before an order is given.

It’s expected to take days to fit all front line employees with the masks, which are designed to prevent inhalation of small particles such as viruses.

Sforza said the union “has been advocating for the use of masks and other safety equipment for the last few weeks” and Metrolinx’s decision to permit them is “a positive step in the right direction.”

He said the masks will “give our members some much-needed peace of mind during this trying time. We must now focus on keeping the system going for as long as possible. It is vital to our city and province.”

Metrolinx spokesperson Anne Marie Aikins framed the distribution of masks to frontline employees — which include vehicle drivers, transit officers, cleaners, and station staff — as a precautionary measure.

“While masks and other (personal protective equipment) have not yet been deemed necessary by public health officials, we are working to ensure we’re prepared, if that happens,” she said.

“We are well-stocked with masks, respirators, gloves and hand sanitizer and are working with our local, provincial and federal partners to ensure a constant supply is available.”

While Metrolinx’s mask policy applies to many GO workers, including bus drivers, GO trains are operated and maintained by roughly 1,000 Bombardier employees under a contract to the provincial transit agency. Bombardier spokesperson Kaven Delarosbil said the company “is working hand in hand with Metrolinx to keep passengers and employees safe“ and “will continue to align its procedures as the situation evolves.”

Metrolinx’s decision to start fitting GO Transit workers with protective equipment comes one day after the TTC’s reversal of its prohibition on employees wearing face masks. The Toronto agency maintains that public health recommendations don’t support bus, streetcar, and subway workers wearing masks, but said Wednesday it dropped it opposition in order to avoid potential job action that would disrupt service.

Unlike Metrolinx, the TTC isn’t providing masks to its workers, except in cases where Wheel Trans drivers are transporting passengers showing symptoms of COVID-19.

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A source with knowledge of Metrolinx’s operations also told the Star Thursday the agency’s transit officers have stopped focusing on fare enforcement and haven’t issued a ticket in days.

Aikins would neither confirm nor deny that. “Our revenue protection officers are focused on customer safety as well as their own health and safety,” she said.

Metrolinx has reduced its service on GO and UP Express as ridership plummets amid public health recommendations for residents to stay home as much as possible to stop the spread of the virus. On Wednesday ridership was down 80 per cent compared to normal volumes, and Metrolinx expects it to decline further.

Ben Spurr is a Toronto-based reporter covering transportation. Reach him by email at bspurr@thestar.ca or follow him on Twitter: @BenSpurr

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