From the 26th, No Mask No Taxi or Bus Ride (Update)

COVID-19 Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters Regular Briefing
"Blocking the Spread of Infectious Diseases on Public Transportation"

A quarantine official is disinfecting a city bus at the Eunpyeong Public Garage in Seoul. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporters Choi Daeyeol, Cho Hyun-ui] Starting from the 26th, passengers will not be allowed to take taxis or buses without wearing masks in all regions nationwide. The same applies to railroads, urban railways, and airplanes.

According to the transportation sector quarantine reinforcement measures announced by the COVID-19 Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters on the 25th, when passengers board buses or taxis, transportation operators and drivers are required to wear masks, and if they fail to comply, the mayor or governor can issue improvement orders.

Additionally, passengers not wearing masks can be refused boarding. Normally, buses, taxis, and railroads cannot refuse boarding without just cause, but to strengthen quarantine management on public transportation, refusal of boarding for those not wearing masks will be temporarily exempt from penalties such as business suspension or fines.

Na Giho, Director of the Public Transportation Division at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, said at the briefing, "Seoul, Incheon, and Daegu have been implementing this according to their own policies, and starting tomorrow, all local governments will implement it as a common measure. Under current laws, there are no regulations allowing direct sanctions against passengers who board without masks, but we believe it will be possible to allow transportation workers to partially restrict boarding," he explained.

Railroads and urban railways will also be allowed to restrict boarding for those not wearing masks through official interpretation, and the same measures will be uniformly applied to flights starting from the 27th. Some airlines have already mandated mask-wearing for passengers since the 18th, and this will be expanded to all airline passengers.

According to quarantine authorities, there have been about 9 confirmed COVID-19 cases among bus drivers and 12 among taxi drivers. The government stated that these measures were taken to prevent the spread of infectious diseases within public transportation. Yoon Taeho, Head of the Quarantine Division at the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters, explained, "As the COVID-19 situation continues and the weather gets warmer, we have prepared transportation sector quarantine reinforcement measures to improve cases where transportation workers or passengers on buses, taxis, and railroads neglect mask-wearing."