Swindon Bus to reduce onboard distancing

[whole diary]

[bobm]

https://www.swindonbus.co.uk/sitting-together-again

Sitting together again from Monday 17 May 2021

After a difficult and challenging year or so for us all, we are delighted to share some good news with you!

As the government continues to ease lockdown restrictions, and the world gradually returns to normal, we are thrilled to announce that our customers will once again be able to sit next to each other on-board our buses.

In line with government guidelines, all forward-facing seats will be in use from Monday 17 May - so those travelling with us can sit next to each other once again.

We continue to ask that you wear face coverings, unless you are exempt, and windows should remain open to aid ventilation. All our buses are cleaned to a high standard with regular touch point cleaning throughout the day and have hand sanitiser on-board for customer use. If you prefer to travel when it is less busy on-board, we recommend you avoid peak times and use our busy bus checker on our website and app.

Thank you for your patience throughout lockdown, our team is looking forward to welcoming you on-board as we head towards what promises to be an enjoyable and memorable summer!

[LiskeardRich]

It’s not just Swindon, DfT^» (Department for Transport - about) instruction covers all of England from Monday

[froome]

I used our local service here in Bath today, and all the seats that have been taped off to prevent use are now available to be sat on.

I suspect this will take some getting used to, and some people will be nervous of having anyone sat next to them, whether masked or not.

I do wonder what might happen if someone puts their bag onto an adjacent seat to prevent others from using it, as it wouldn't surprise me if that starts to happen as buses get busier.

[Surrey 455]

In London double deckers can now carry 60 passengers (was 30).

From the Telegraph (Unusually not behind a paywall!)

Strangers will sit next to one another on buses once more with capacity doubling to 60 passengers in London as coronavirus restrictions ease

I've heard elsewhere that London's single decker capacity will also double though I can't find either on TfL^» (Transport for London - about) website.

[TaplowGreen]

Feels a bit too soon given the circumstances............are there really that many more people clamouring to travel by bus at the moment?

[Ralph Ayres]

At least it removes the ridiculous situation of 2 people from the same household travelling together who had to sit apart and so were closer to other people than necessary.