Diary of a pandemic bus driver

Also today: NYC hopes consumers return to dining with restaurant week, and lessons from a crash course in rodent control.

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When the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention mandated face coverings on public transportation in 2020 to mitigate the spread of Covid-19, transit operators like Brendan Bartholomew, a writer and Muni bus driver in San Francisco, were unofficially tasked with enforcement. He describes the job as one of his most challenging, with uncooperative riders hurling daily insults and occasional threats of violence at him and his colleagues. For mask refusers, Bartholomew writes, "I was a proxy for every authority figure who'd ever oppressed them." Meanwhile, complying riders chided him for not doing his job when fellow passengers rode the bus unmasked. So when a federal judge struck down the mandate in April of this year, his first reaction was relief. Go behind the wheels with him as he recounts the personal toll of rolling through a public health crisis. Today on CityLab: Diary of a Pandemic Bus Driver —Angel Adegbesan More on CityLab

NYC Wants In-Person Dining Back. Will Restaurant Week Be the Ticket? The promotion returns, inflation and all. With a longer run-time, varying price points and record signups, the city hopes consumers are convinced. I Got a Crash Course in Rodent Control at D.C.'s Rat Academy The much-loathed rodents are enjoying a post-pandemic population boom in many US cities. To learn how humans can cope, I had to go back to school.  NYC Speed Cameras Now Track Drivers 24/7 in Safety Win for Adams New York City nighttime drivers, beware: You're on camera.

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