The Liverpool City Region Metro Mayor will carry on trying to talk to travel providers in Merseyside over the mandatory wearing of masks after July 19.
Steve Rotheram joined four other Labour mayors, including Andy Burnham to discuss the wearing of face masks on public transport.
The Metro Mayor discussed how he would have made mask wearing mandatory on public transport "if he could" but explained he did not have the same powers as London Mayor Sadiq Khan.
READ MORE: Mayors issue update on face masks on public transport
Khan said he was not prepared to put Tube, bus and other transport users at risk by relaxing the rules on face coverings.
Mr Rotheram said: "If I had control over the transport network like Sadiq does in London I would do what he has already done, but I don't.
"Instead I am trying to make facemasks mandatory on the bits of network that I can, but in all honesty, I am hitting brick walls."
Transport companies have the power to turn away customers who refuse to cover their noses and mouths even when the legal requirement is lifted on July 19.
The issue has been much-discussed ahead of the reopening on July 19, with industry bodies yesterday saying train and bus companies would not make masks a requirement of travel.
On Monday, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said "we expect and recommend" people continue to wear face coverings in "crowded and enclosed spaces such as on public transport".
Mr Rotheram said he was able to make masks mandatory on Mersey Ferries and at the landing stage and pleaded with private travel providers to contact him.
He said: "My message to those operators is to come and talk to us properly and lets see if we can come to an agreement."
Mr Rotheram also asked Prime Minister Boris Johnson to "show his commitment" to levelling regional government by giving Metro Mayors the option to run their transport networks to the wishes of local people.
