No matter how you get around Door and Kewaunee counties, you will not have to worry about making sure you have a mask. A federal judge struck down the mask mandate on public transportation on Monday, ending two years of the unpopular travel rule. The mandate was supposed to expire on Monday before it was extended to May 3rd by the federal government because of the Centers for Disease Control’s concern about the BA.2 Omicron variant of the coronavirus. Airports and airlines acted swiftly after the decision, making masks optional on domestic and most international flights. While the airport and its carriers are now mask optional, Susan Levitte from Austin Straubel Airport in Green Bay says you should still pay attention to what the rules are for where you are going.

Closer to home,  the Door County Transportation Department and its Door2Door Rides and Door County Connect services have kept in step with federal guidance up to this point. They have been timing their switch to a mask optional policy to coincide with the updates to the federal mandate. As of 11:20 a.m., Transportation Director Pam Busch says they are waiting for formal approval from the Wisconsin Department of Transportation for final approval to go mask optional moving forward. The rideshare service Uber also announced on Monday that masks would no longer be required for their drivers and passengers.