Victorian mask-wearing slips on trains and trams

When Mike boarded a train from Ringwood to the city in late February, he counted five of the 20 people on his carriage without masks.

Many people felt unsafe when they saw that many people were not wearing a mask in using public transport.

Healthcare worker, Mike is frustrated that while his colleagues are wearing masks across an entire working shift, some people are still baulking at masking up for a train ride.

“The people not wearing the mask weren’t realising that the mask is to protect me from them,” he said.

The new Department of Transport compliance data that found 23 per cent of Victorian train passengers were not wearing a mask in March.

That marked a steep increase from just 7 per cent in November last year.

The figures also revealed train mask compliance in the afternoon and evening has slipped from 89 per cent during November-December to 68 per cent in January-March.

Compliance on trains during the morning peak fell from 86 per cent to 74 per cent over the same period.

Public Transport Minister Ben Carroll said he was “concerned” by the figures.

“We know it’s an airborne virus, it’s why the Chief Health Officer has mandated the wearing of masks on public transport,” he said.

“All Victorians on public transport should be masking up.”

The data was collected by staggered observations of passengers over the train and tram network.

It showed relatively stable overall mask compliance on trams during the morning and daytime, but a sharp drop in the afternoons and evenings from 83 per cent to 65 per cent.

The number of people wearing a mask incorrectly on trains rose slightly from 5 per cent in November to 9 per cent in March.

Mr Carroll said he believed many Victorians may simply be forgetting their mask and the government was looking at ways to reinforce the right messages.

He said the government would prefer not to go down a “heavy-handed approach” of enforcement and was more focused on educating the community.

The Minister said he hoped Victorians would eventually develop a similar mindset to other communities like Hong Kong, where mask-wearing is commonplace on public transport.