EDMONTON -- Starting Monday, transit riders in Edmonton will once again be required to pay to use the bus or train.

Fees were suspended for several months because of the COVID-19 crisis.

Riders will once again be able to board through the front door of buses, and free masks will be handed out at transit stations.

The masks are being provided by the province, and are the same ones being handed out at drive-thrus.

"It's not mandatory but we are asking all of our customers, as much as possible, to be wearing a mask on transit," Edmonton Transit Service Branch Manager Eddie Robar said. "We're really asking people to be cautious."

Masks will be available between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. at the West Edmonton Mall, Mill Woods, Northgate and Century Park transit stations, and the Churchill, Clareview and Kingsway LRT stations. ETS has 500,000 to give away.

Monthly passes from the months of March, April or July will be accepted from June 15 to June 30.

Bookings and rentals of city sports fields, ball diamonds and track and field facilities will also resume on Monday.

The city has already said it does not have the money to maintain the fields to the usual standard, so athletes will likely see longer weeds and a lack of line markings.

The funicular will also reopen on Monday, with a strict limit of two people inside at any time.