News / Transport
Social distancing measures to be tested on Bristol buses
New social distancing seating arrangements are in place from Monday on one Bristol bus route.
The trial is now underway on First’s 24 service from Ashton Vale to Southmead Hospital.
Signs are in place to advise passengers on where to sit and some areas of the bus have been taped off.
If the trial proves successful in helping customers to social distance, First intends to roll out the new seating arrangement to all of its services in the Bristol area.
Alongside the new seating arrangements for passengers, buses 2, 4, 17, 24 are due to double in capacity at specific times on weekdays between selected stops
On services 43, 45 and 48/49, capacity will also double at specific higher demand times, with extra buses running five minutes ahead of schedule on parts of the routes.
If the trial on the 24 bus is successful, the new measures will be rolled out to all buses in the Bristol area – photo: First West of England
First West of England managing director, James Freeman, said: “We are closely monitoring our services to ensure that social distancing is being observed at all times for the wellbeing of our passengers and drivers.
“Now that we are seeing the first signs of workers returning, we have reviewed our social distancing arrangements on our buses.
“In addition to creating extra capacity at busier times of the day, our new seating pilot on service 24 will act as a visual guide to show customers how they can maintain social distancing whilst travelling by bus.
“If it proves effective in helping both our customers and drivers, we will introduce it to all of our services across the region in preparation for more employees returning to work.
“I’d like to thank all customers for their ongoing co-operation at this time and would ask that they follow this new seating advice so we can do our utmost to keep everyone safe.”
Main photo: First West of England
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