First Bus Introduce Social Distancing

[Butts]

How many people can get in a Taxi at the moment ?

 

[Bikeman78]

This is beyond farcical now.

Twice in the past week, I've tried to get the 612 which is an hourly service and twice it's had more than 18 people on and drove past leaving myself and three others at the bus stop.

I cant see how this is going to work?

What do you do when you cannot get on the bus? Wait until the shops open in two weeks. Then the fun will really start, especially if the rumours of big discounts are true.

 

[RogerOut]

Yes roll on June 15. People will come out because the shops are open. The bus industry hasn’t had to face this yet as most people are generally still avoiding public transport as the high streets are closed.

 

[richw]

How many people can get in a Taxi at the moment ?

My neighbour said he can take single passenger in his Vectra cab.

 

[CaptainHaddock]

This is beyond farcical now.

Twice in the past week, I've tried to get the 612 which is an hourly service and twice it's had more than 18 people on and drove past leaving myself and three others at the bus stop.

I cant see how this is going to work?

Complain. Bitterly if necessary.

If you tell them the times you'd attempted to travel then hopefully the bus company can identify the driver and take action against him for wilfully refusing to pick up passengers with a legitimate reason to travel.

 

[RogerOut]

Complain. Bitterly if necessary.

If you tell them the times you'd attempted to travel then hopefully the bus company can identify the driver and take action against him for wilfully refusing to pick up passengers with a legitimate reason to travel.

How would the driver know their reason for travel? What if the driver reached his maximum capacity of passengers?

 

[xc170]

Complain. Bitterly if necessary.

If you tell them the times you'd attempted to travel then hopefully the bus company can identify the driver and take action against him for wilfully refusing to pick up passengers with a legitimate reason to travel.

Yes, this, if enough people do it, the bus companies may realise what a stupid idea reducing capacity to 20% really is.

 

[Class195]

Complain. Bitterly if necessary.

If you tell them the times you'd attempted to travel then hopefully the bus company can identify the driver and take action against him for wilfully refusing to pick up passengers with a legitimate reason to travel.

Yes, this, if enough people do it, the bus companies may realise what a stupid idea reducing capacity to 20% really is.

I have complained to First and they said that they are remaining on a Sunday service until further notice.

This is madness.

 

[Class195]

What do you do when you cannot get on the bus? Wait until the shops open in two weeks. Then the fun will really start, especially if the rumours of big discounts are true.

I walked down to the train station but it defeats the object when you pay £17 for a weekly bus ticket.

 

[Bantamzen]

How many people can get in a Taxi at the moment ?

My wife and I shared a taxi just yesterday.

 

[Butts]

My wife and I shared a taxi just yesterday.

Just wondered how this fits in with social distancing on the Bus and Train - was it a Black Cab or a normal car ?

 

[Bantamzen]

Just wondered how this fits in with social distancing on the Bus and Train - was it a Black Cab or a normal car ?

A normal private hire taxi, the local drivers have never had any issues with taking more than one passenger. After all social distancing in a regular taxi is nigh on impossible anyway.

 

[Andy Pacer]

First in Leicester are duplicating some of the 'busier' journeys at the moment.

 

[scotrail158713]

Complain. Bitterly if necessary.

If you tell them the times you'd attempted to travel then hopefully the bus company can identify the driver and take action against him for wilfully refusing to pick up passengers with a legitimate reason to travel.

You’re right about a complaint, so companies see the impracticality of these guidelines. However, why should the driver get in bother? If they have been instructed to carry no more than X number of passengers, and has reached that capacity, then what should they do?

 

[Andy Pacer]

You’re right about a complaint, so companies see the impracticality of these guidelines. However, why should the driver get in bother? If they have been instructed to carry no more than X number of passengers, and has reached that capacity, then what should they do?

I can already envisage the amount of grief and abuse the driver could get off the passengers already on the bus if more than advised numbers are subsequently allowed to board.

 

[Bletchleyite]

You’re right about a complaint, so companies see the impracticality of these guidelines. However, why should the driver get in bother? If they have been instructed to carry no more than X number of passengers, and has reached that capacity, then what should they do?

Do as they have been told.

The Government have instructed them to do this and all bus companies have done it - what are people finding hard about that?

 

[Andy Pacer]

I have complained to First and they said that they are remaining on a Sunday service until further notice.

This is madness.

You’re right about a complaint, so companies see the impracticality of these guidelines. However, why should the driver get in bother? If they have been instructed to carry no more than X number of passengers, and has reached that capacity, then what should they do?

The complaint should be seen as a complaint against the service level operated (or vehicle size used if smaller than could be available), rather than getting the driver into trouble.

 

[northernchris]

Do as they have been told.

The Government have instructed them to do this and all bus companies have done it - what are people finding hard about that?

Yes, it's the Government who need to be allowing some leeway here, ideally on the condition of additional measures in place such as mandatory face masks and where possible a quick clean between journeys. Hopefully though the bus operators are compiling the feedback and using it to lobby those in power to see common sense although I don't have much confidence in First doing this seeing as though they are inept at everything they do.

Here in West Yorkshire the services get ramped up from tomorrow which should help in some way, some of the more high frequency routes are either back to normal or running every 15 minutes rather than every 10. Passenger numbers will be far from usual to begin with so it should help eradicate some of the issues. I'm interested to see what will happen with the like of Coastliner, whether they will still be carrying Irene and Betty on their free trip to Scarborough or whether numbers will be so low a capacity of less than 20 will suffice

 

[Geordie driver]

This is why I was surprised that companies are saying drivers will not be penalized for making a mistake. Their normal MO is " blame the driver" for everything.

Even in this thread, despite the instructions clearly being given to drivers, someone want us to complain so action can be taken against the driver.

Bus staff death rate well over double that of NHS. Skimping on PPE continues.

 

[richw]

This is why I was surprised that companies are saying drivers will not be penalized for making a mistake. Their normal MO is " blame the driver" for everything.
Skimping on PPE continues.

Both of these points are not valid across the board. Both points for here at First south west couldn’t be further from fact
Very little is blamed on driver here, and we rarely get feedback on a complaint as it’s acknowledged it’s not through driver error.

As for PPE, I’ve been issues with disposable gloves, 2 pairs of heavy duty Washable gloves, hand sanitiser with high alcohol content, a New pack of 5 face masks each day, A pack of sanitiser wipes, sealable bags for wipes and masks to be disposed of in a yellow bin hospital style. Our entire fleet have had solid Perspex cab screens fitted.
In all honesty I’ve never felt more protected, public have awareness so are taking precautions too, normally they are on spreading all sorts of viruses.

 

[RogerOut]

Yes let’s blame the bus driver for following the guidelines. Blame the driver for refusing to pick more passengers up when his bus is at its capacity but let’s also blame the driver for having too many pax on their bus.
All well and good the bus operators following the government guidelines but they need to be told it ain’t gonna work! Let’s be realistic atleast.

 

[richw]

All well and good the bus operators following the government guidelines but they need to be told it ain’t gonna work! Let’s be realistic atleast.

Here in Cornwall at present frequency and passenger numbers are perfectly balanced, I’ve never exceeded 80% of new capacity since they’ve been set up, but consistently hitting 50%.
I anticipate this might change as more people return to work in the next few weeks

 

[Anonymous10]

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.

When I start back to work and have to catch bus or train I'm just gonna have gloves and a mask the gloves to stop exactly that

 

[317 forever]

Some bus companies are sealing off alternate pairs of seats. While this is good for ensuring passengers maintain a distance from eachother, it could make certain desired seats - in my case the right side seat above the wheel - are made unavailable.

 

[CaptainHaddock]

Do as they have been told.

The Government have instructed them to do this and all bus companies have done it - what are people finding hard about that?

No, the government has ASKED people to maintain social distancing WHERE POSSIBLE. No person, or any bus company has been instructed to forcibly keep passengers two metres apart, nor to prevent key workers from travelling.

New guidance published to ensure transport network is safe for those who need to use it

Guidance for safer travel and safer transport operations during the next phase of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

www.gov.uk

 

[richw]

No, the government has ASKED people to maintain social distancing WHERE POSSIBLE. No person, or any bus company has been instructed to forcibly keep passengers two metres apart, nor to prevent key workers from travelling.

New guidance published to ensure transport network is safe for those who need to use it

Guidance for safer travel and safer transport operations during the next phase of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

www.gov.uk

Again the documentation issued to operators is far more comprehensive. It’s not a coincidence first, stagecoach and Arriva are all using the same method,The same diagrams, The same notices to passengers

 

[Class195]

Yes let’s blame the bus driver for following the guidelines. Blame the driver for refusing to pick more passengers up when his bus is at its capacity but let’s also blame the driver for having too many pax on their bus.
All well and good the bus operators following the government guidelines but they need to be told it ain’t gonna work! Let’s be realistic atleast.

Who is blaming the drivers?

My complaint was directed to First at keeping a busy route to one bus per hour leaving myself and others behind.

 

[Enthusiast]

Bus staff death rate well over double that of NHS. Skimping on PPE continues.

But did they succumb because they were bus staff? I imagine far more people who were not bus staff have died than those who were. Thus proving conclusively that the safest occupation you can be in is a bus driver.

 

[Bletchleyite]

But did they succumb because they were bus staff? I imagine far more people who were not bus staff have died than those who were. Thus proving conclusively that the safest occupation you can be in is a bus driver.

One observation I have is that bus and coach drivers (and lorry drivers too, so I wonder how the stats go with those?) seem disproportionately likely to be overweight, probably because their job is completely sedentary and (unlike office workers) they tend to work long shifts, so meaning little opportunity for daily exercise. Being obese (BMI>30) is a very high risk factor for COVID to develop into a serious case.

 

[richw]

But did they succumb because they were bus staff? I imagine far more people who were not bus staff have died than those who were. Thus proving conclusively that the safest occupation you can be in is a bus driver.

And there is zero evidence any of those contracted it at work.

One observation I have is that bus and coach drivers (and lorry drivers too, so I wonder how the stats go with those?) seem disproportionately likely to be overweight, probably because their job is completely sedentary and (unlike office workers) they tend to work long shifts, so meaning little opportunity for daily exercise. Being obese (BMI>30) is a very high risk factor for COVID to develop into a serious case.

Type 2 diabetes is disproportionately high amongst lorry and bus drivers, increasing covid risk