Social distancing to be rolled out on all First buses this week. Buses will run at around a 1/4 of their seated capacity. No standing allowed.
Any plans to increase frequency as a result of that? Will lead to a lot of problems with current frequency
Frequency increase won’t happen overnight awaiting government funding plus a lot of vehicles need to be checked over before being put back on the road. Also a lot of staff on furlough still. Maybe next week will update when I know.Any plans to increase frequency as a result of that? Will lead to a lot of problems with current frequency
Can sit next to someone in these seats atm if from same household.If this morning was anything to go by they won't have to. My bus to work this morning had yellow signs on some of the seats telling people not to sit on them but there were a good few people sitting on them anyway. In all honesty, social distancing on buses doesn't work as all it can really take is one or two people with the virus to touch a stop button or grab pole and then some other poor sod touches the button or pole and they become infected.
As this is likely to be a long term issue why not physically remove the seats?Clearly yellow signs aren't enough. Need to tape the rows off completely. Then again that would be hard to do with a zig zag formation.
Then you would need to get it re-certified by DVSA to reflect the new seating arrangements.As this is likely to be a long term issue why not physically remove the seats?
Social distancing dosent cure everything, washing hands and not touching your face are still vital.If this morning was anything to go by they won't have to. My bus to work this morning had yellow signs on some of the seats telling people not to sit on them but there were a good few people sitting on them anyway. In all honesty, social distancing on buses doesn't work as all it can really take is one or two people with the virus to touch a stop button or grab pole and then some other poor sod touches the button or pole and they become infected.
Quite ridiculous really. Key areas aren't going to be cleaned often enough, and if it's only a select few seats you're allowed on then everyone will be sitting on them, who knows if someone asymptomatic went and sat on one.
It could be that some of them find it difficult climbing stairs when the bus is hurtling along.Also people are lazy gits and won't spread out across a bus. The number of double deckers I've seen on my local route that are almost full on the bottom deck but have about 2 people upstairs is insane.
It could be that some of them find it difficult climbing stairs when the bus is hurtling along.
Especially if you have to go to work it's quite worrying, in Cornwall not being allowed on one bus due to it being 'full' means having to wait another hour to see if you can get on the next one, only for so long is an employer going to put up with you being potentially an hour or more late with distancing in place till next yearI've looked into this in more detail and it sounds a lot more draconian than it might at first appear.
According to the article in the link, "Passenger counting functionality is being delivered by Ticketer. Within days, the facility will be added to ticket machines used by First. Drivers will count passengers on and off, and the machine will advise them what, if any, capacity remains available.
When no more useable seats are free, the destination display will be changed by the driver to show ‘Sorry, bus full’. Ticketer will have delivered the passenger counting function in less than two weeks since conversations began."
First Bus to enforce 75% capacity reduction with Ticketer - routeone
First Bus is to introduce measures to ensure that social distancing guidelines can be adhered to across its operation via work that includes a passenger counting facility to allow reduced capacity limits to be observed. Passengers will be directed to use only seats that are an appropriate...www.route-one.net
Yet another example of an overreaction to a relatively minor issue! Surely if a quarter of the seats are occupied , the bus isn't "full", it's 75% empty? A far simpler solution would be to put up signs saying "Please sit 2m apart where possible" and leave passengers to decide for themselves rather than simply refusing to carry passengers beyond a random limit.
That sounds like Leeds on a normal day except the buses are a bit closer than an hour apart. Even so it will be utter chaos if they reduce capacity by that much and expect everyone back in the officeEspecially if you have to go to work it's quite worrying, in Cornwall not being allowed on one bus due to it being 'full' means having to wait another hour to see if you can get on the next one, only for so long is an employer going to put up with you being potentially an hour or more late with distancing in place till next year
Especially if you have to go to work it's quite worrying, in Cornwall not being allowed on one bus due to it being 'full' means having to wait another hour to see if you can get on the next one, only for so long is an employer going to put up with you being potentially an hour or more late with distancing in place till next year
That sounds like Leeds on a normal day except the buses are a bit closer than an hour apart. Even so it will be utter chaos if they reduce capacity by that much and expect everyone back in the office
Yeah can't see it working long term, if it was for a couple of months people could use their holiday, or temporarily reduce their hours but given it's going to be well into next year, everyone will have to return this year at some point, certainly something need to be done by First and all operators to try and guarantee all workers get to work on timeThe antis will shout, no doubt, but it strikes me that for very infrequent services a system of reservations is the way to go.
The antis will shout, no doubt, but it strikes me that for very infrequent services a system of reservations is the way to go.
Some local shops are for locals only now, so these days expect the unexpected!<Clears throat, rubs hands together, steps up>
On local buses? Seriously? Sorry to ask, but where are you from and what colour is the sky there...??
I know you've been running with the idea of reservation only commuter trains, which is a bit bonkers. But local buses? Do you actually understand how local buses, and for that matter commuter trains work? You see the idea is that you go "ooh, I need to go to work / the shops / Grans now". So you look at the timetable, and, erm, go for the next service and get on your way. You don't go "OK, firstly I need to check the times, then see if there is a spare reservation available". Honestly, you really, really need to let this idea go. It might actually be a great idea on long distance services, in fact as a regular user of them I'd welcome the idea (with the caveat that local requirements be served), but for local services designed to turn-up-and-go.... Well the clue to the problem is right there....
What next, compulsory reservations for supermarkets, shops, public conveniences….???
<Clears throat, rubs hands together, steps up>
On local buses? Seriously? Sorry to ask, but where are you from and what colour is the sky there...??
I know you've been running with the idea of reservation only commuter trains, which is a bit bonkers. But local buses? Do you actually understand how local buses, and for that matter commuter trains work? You see the idea is that you go "ooh, I need to go to work / the shops / Grans now". So you look at the timetable, and, erm, go for the next service and get on your way. You don't go "OK, firstly I need to check the times, then see if there is a spare reservation available". Honestly, you really, really need to let this idea go. It might actually be a great idea on long distance services, in fact as a regular user of them I'd welcome the idea (with the caveat that local requirements be served), but for local services designed to turn-up-and-go.... Well the clue to the problem is right there....
What next, compulsory reservations for supermarkets, shops, public conveniences….???
Many a true word spoken in jest. Supermarkets already have time slots for deliveries, how long before some clown decides you have to book a time slot to go shopping in person?
Pre booking is already being suggests for local authority tips, some shops and several bus companies have changed routes to pre-book only (Newport being one from this week). For large areas of the countryside pre-book has been the only option for many years.<Clears throat, rubs hands together, steps up>
On local buses? Seriously? Sorry to ask, but where are you from and what colour is the sky there...??
I know you've been running with the idea of reservation only commuter trains, which is a bit bonkers. But local buses? Do you actually understand how local buses, and for that matter commuter trains work? You see the idea is that you go "ooh, I need to go to work / the shops / Grans now". So you look at the timetable, and, erm, go for the next service and get on your way. You don't go "OK, firstly I need to check the times, then see if there is a spare reservation available". Honestly, you really, really need to let this idea go. It might actually be a great idea on long distance services, in fact as a regular user of them I'd welcome the idea (with the caveat that local requirements be served), but for local services designed to turn-up-and-go.... Well the clue to the problem is right there....
What next, compulsory reservations for supermarkets, shops*, public conveniences….???
*Edit - To be fair I have been past one shop where you have to make an appointment to go. But it is on Rodeo Drive in Beverley Hills, CA, and has an average spend of $100,000 per visit. So yeah...
I know you've been running with the idea of reservation only commuter trains, which is a bit bonkers. But local buses? Do you actually understand how local buses, and for that matter commuter trains work? You see the idea is that you go "ooh, I need to go to work / the shops / Grans now". So you look at the timetable, and, erm, go for the next service and get on your way. You don't go "OK, firstly I need to check the times, then see if there is a spare reservation available". Honestly, you really, really need to let this idea go. It might actually be a great idea on long distance services, in fact as a regular user of them I'd welcome the idea (with the caveat that local requirements be served), but for local services designed to turn-up-and-go.... Well the clue to the problem is right there....
What next, compulsory reservations for supermarkets, shops*, public conveniences….???
Pre booking is already being suggests for local authority tips, some shops and several bus companies have changed routes to pre-book only (Newport being one from this week). For large areas of the countryside pre-book has been the only option for many years.
An infrequent local service (hourly, say) is not designed for turn up and go. I'm not talking about city buses every 10 minutes. I'm talking about infrequent, often rural regional bus services that have hourly or lower frequencies where being told "sorry mate, it's full" is a potentially major problem.
The other upside of it is that the bus company may be able to see a bus that's full and put on a duplicate.
When the weather gets bad so queueing outside becomes unpleasant, booking slots for supermarkets seems a very good idea. It's being done by most Councils for the tip at present.