It's mask confusion! Georgia travelers navigate updated, loosened policies

If mask guidance for travel seems a little hard to nail down, there’s a reason. Monday, a federal judge in Florida ruled against the Biden administration's mask mandate for travelers. As a result, the Transportation Security Administration released a statement saying it will no longer enforce mask use on public transit.

The first day of mass transit without mask mandates fell on Larry Akins' 69th birthday. His mask was decorated with Pittsburgh Steelers logos, just like the hat and the jacket he wore before boarding a Macon transit bus.

"It'll seem funny not to wear the mask, you know?" he said. "They still got the pandemic out there. You could really still catch it without it being on." Akins said he plans to keep his mask on during bus rides and when he's at work at a local grocery store.

Georgia transit authorities will set their mask guidance individually moving forward. Passengers in major cities like Atlanta and Macon won’t be required to wear masks on buses and trains. MARTA and the Macon Bibb Transit Authority said masks are still encouraged, but they will no longer enforce a mandate following the federal ruling.

Some passengers are responding with joy and others with apprehension. Deborah Wilder was waiting for a bus at Macon's downtown Terminal Station.

"I prefer that they keep it on until they tell us that it's safe," she said. "Until they tell us that it's safe, I'm not taking mine off."

So who is she waiting to give her the all clear? "The specialists and all that," she said. "Because they said it went up and it went down. Until they say it's safe, I prefer that they keep it on."

Stacey Taylor was already on the bus with about 20 other riders when he heard masks were optional. He alone whipped his off.

"I can't hardly breathe," he explained with a laugh. "And hey...look here. I want to see who I'm looking at and who's looking at me, you know? Anybody wear a mask, you think they might be good, they might be evil at you."

Other major transit authorities in Georgia are following previous TSA guidance which mandated masks though May 3. Riders in Columbus, Chatham County, Cobb County, and Albany will still need masks on trains and buses.

Airlines responded quickly to the news from TSA. Delta Air Lines shared a statement on Twitter with updated company policy stating masks are optional for employees and customers. Hartsfield-Jackson Airport also shared on Twitter that it's establishing a mask-optional policy for employees, visitors and passengers.