First Bus is introducing a number of measures to ensure that social distancing guidelines on public transport can be adhered to across its bus fleet.
The new measures include a passenger-counting facility and follow on from the UK government’s publication of guidance to ensure the ongoing safety of colleagues and customers as plans to ease restrictions progressively unfold.
The most visible sign will be on board where passengers will be clearly directed to only use seats that are at an appropriate distance from each other. The step will reduce the capacity of each bus by over 75% and seats will be clearly marked on all First Bus vehicles by Monday 25 May 2020.
First Bus said drivers have a key role to play in ensuring the buses do not become overloaded against their reduced capacity limits.
Over the next few days there will be a facility added to the on-board Ticketer machines that allows drivers to count passengers on and off and which advises them what, if any, available capacity remains.
Where a bus is full, the driver will show a “Sorry, bus full” display on the destination screen.
According to First, the passenger counting functionality will have been delivered by Ticketer in less than two weeks since conversations began.
Dave Lynch, chief information officer of FirstGroup, said “Since the government’s announcements last week, we have been working round the clock to find ways to innovate so that on our buses we can ensure safe, socially distanced space for our passengers.
“We are immensely proud that we have been able to develop this new system so quickly with Ticketer, empowering our drivers to be able to manage the capacity of each bus. We fully support the government’s guidelines and urge passengers to only travel if their journey is essential.”
