Latest advice for those using buses

12th May, 2020

Latest travel advice as of 12 May 2020

As the Government has moved to the next phase of managing the Coronavirus pandemic, it has said that more people can return to work. We are expecting buses to become busier and we are planning to increase our service levels in the coming weeks. We will update our website as soon as these details are available in full.

We all have a responsibility to follow the Government advice. To help, we have prepared these key messages for guidance when using buses:

• Only travel if you need to, i.e. is your journey essential?
• If you feel unwell, please do not travel by bus.
• If you can, avoid travelling in the peak hours between 7:00 am and 9:30 am
• Buses will not be able to carry as many passengers as normal, so the driver may not be able to let you board the bus if social distancing cannot be maintained.
• Plan enough time to travel and be prepared to wait for the next bus if your bus is full
• Check our website or Twitter regularly for service updates that may impact your journey
• When taking a seat, please keep as far away from other passengers as you can, only sit directly next to someone else if they are from your household.  Ideally leave a space next to you and in front of you.
• Face coverings - the Government has advised passengers to wear a face covering when using public transport if you can – find further information on this
• Please pay by contactless or theKey if you can.
• If you need to pay with cash, please try to have exact change
• When queueing for the bus, please keep 2 metres apart from other people
• Once your journey is over, please remember to wash your hands

What else are we doing?

We have:

• Installed temporary screens to the cab area of our buses to help keep you and our drivers safe
• Requested as many customers as possible to avoid paying with cash
• Asked customers to only travel if it is an essential journey
• Monitored passenger levels very closely and where we can, we are running duplicate buses to cope with demand until we are able to increase service levels
• Increased our cleaning regime – with extra focus on high touch point areas
• Issued our colleagues with training and the latest advice from the Government
• Provided colleagues with a personal supply of hand sanitiser and we are in the process of making face coverings and gloves available to colleagues who want to use them
• Updated our websites and social media regularly as soon as new information becomes available
• Issued press releases to local media and stakeholders so information about our services can reach as many people as possible 
• We will be adapting queuing areas which are in our own control, including bus stations to help maintain social distancing