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Post by Eastlondoner62 on May 15, 2021 19:05:39 GMT
How's it like with people adhering to social distancing on the buses? I had a journey on the 114 this morning where I was on the front row of the top deck, and these men got on, with no masks, and sat in the two rows immediately behind me, when most of the seats on the top deck were available! The driver had to play the announcement about wearing masks on public transport at that stop and the following. I wasn't too bothered so I didn't say anything but I think that people should at least try to social distance and if they're not wearing a mask (whether they're excempt or simply don't care about mask wearing), they should try to use the seats which are far apart from other passengers! I went to Stratford last week, used a 238. Wasn't long until the bus was completely packed to the rafters with people as is expected on that route. It was like the pandemic had never happened. The 104 running in front of us was no different. Coming home I didn't even try my luck with the 238, one was loading up as I arrived at the bus station and the crowd was abysmal. I waited for a 262 but that route was being its usual self and didn't actually turn up for ages, another 238 passed and had the exact same issue. Two 104s also were chronically overloaded. When my 262 came I was lucky in that I was the first on and could get to my seat and plop all my shopping on the seat next to me and many others had the same idea but it wasn't long until the lower deck had a load of standees.
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Post by redbus on May 15, 2021 19:37:33 GMT
We certainly need to get on with life and work out how we can live with Covid, but while I want to see bus capacity expanded, this is the wrong time to do it. Firstly there needs to be consistent messaging, if the government says social distancing, the two metre and crucially one metre+ with mask rules still apply, then it must equally still apply to buses. You simply can't have one metre+ with mask rule and have 60 people on a double deck bus, the two are incompatible. To allow 60 people back on a bus the one metre+ mask rule must go or a sufficiently good explanation given why the two are not incompatible.
There is a substantial swathe of people who have been made scared witless during this pandemic and they need convincing to go out, convincing to go back to public transport and you'll never get them back until they feel safe. We need to understand and convince these people that it is safe to come back onto the buses and increasing capacity to 60 will only fuel these peoples fears and keep them away. As a society I think we have a real problem bringing these people back to normality. Unfortunately there are lots of people like this and their numbers are substantial enough to make a huge difference. Of course it will be fine for most people but that misses the point. You only need to get one such scared person back on the bus, have someone sit next to them who isn't wearing a mask or has there mask halfway down their face or not covering their nose, they then cough or sneeze and well need I say more about the impact it will have on them. You only need a very small number of people who do not comply with the rules to make this a problem.
Sorry to be the party pooper here and I hope I am proven wrong here.
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Post by wirewiper on May 16, 2021 7:45:45 GMT
We certainly need to get on with life and work out how we can live with Covid, but while I want to see bus capacity expanded, this is the wrong time to do it. Firstly there needs to be consistent messaging, if the government says social distancing, the two metre and crucially one metre+ with mask rules still apply, then it must equally still apply to buses. You simply can't have one metre+ with mask rule and have 60 people on a double deck bus, the two are incompatible. To allow 60 people back on a bus the one metre+ mask rule must go or a sufficiently good explanation given why the two are not incompatible. There is a substantial swathe of people who have been made scared witless during this pandemic and they need convincing to go out, convincing to go back to public transport and you'll never get them back until they feel safe. We need to understand and convince these people that it is safe to come back onto the buses and increasing capacity to 60 will only fuel these peoples fears and keep them away. As a society I think we have a real problem bringing these people back to normality. Unfortunately there are lots of people like this and their numbers are substantial enough to make a huge difference. Of course it will be fine for most people but that misses the point. You only need to get one such scared person back on the bus, have someone sit next to them who isn't wearing a mask or has there mask halfway down their face or not covering their nose, they then cough or sneeze and well need I say more about the impact it will have on them. You only need a very small number of people who do not comply with the rules to make this a problem. Sorry to be the party pooper here and I hope I am proven wrong here. It was the operators themselves, through their representative body the CPT (Confederation of Passenger Transport) who made the safety case for allowing more passengers on buses. High levels of vaccination prioritising those most vulnerable to the effects of covid-19, low infection rates now, and thorough cleaning regimes mean that it is now safe to allow an increase in capacity provided certain protocols remain. These are: only forward-facing seats to be occupied; seats behind driver remain out of use; all passengers continue to wear masks except if exempt; and windows should be open to allow ventilation. If you go on many operator websites you will see this revised advice being explained clearly. There will be people who remain reluctant to use the bus. The bigger issue here is that with the economy opening up and people getting out and about doing more, running buses at one-third capacity is putting off people who face long waits and even being stranded. It is already causing difficulties at times and this would only be exacerbated with further easing of restrictions. If people don't trust that they can rely on the bus when they want or need one, they will be driven away - in many cases, for good.
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Post by wirewiper on May 16, 2021 8:09:25 GMT
According to LOTS, the practice of alternating school/non-school journeys on higher-frequency routes will be discontinued starting Monday 17th, this coincides with a general easing of capacity restrictions on buses from the same date.
The specific School Extras on lower-frequency routes (the 'V' journeys) will continue to be for students only (presumably the 600-series school routes will continue to be as well).
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Post by YY13VKP on May 16, 2021 8:55:23 GMT
According to LOTS, the practice of alternating school/non-school journeys on higher-frequency routes will be discontinued starting Monday 17th, this coincides with a general easing of capacity restrictions on buses from the same date. The specific School Extras on lower-frequency routes (the 'V' journeys) will continue to be for students only (presumably the 600-series school routes will continue to be as well). Any idea how much longer the "V" school extras are sticking around for?
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on May 16, 2021 17:12:41 GMT
Today I rode the 140 from Hayes to Yeading. The driver not only played several coronavirus related announcements (including mask enforcement, seats available upstairs etc), but told people to move onto the top deck. This happened quite a bit around Hayes Town and then nearer Yeading too.
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Post by Paul on May 17, 2021 6:54:36 GMT
We certainly need to get on with life and work out how we can live with Covid, but while I want to see bus capacity expanded, this is the wrong time to do it. Firstly there needs to be consistent messaging, if the government says social distancing, the two metre and crucially one metre+ with mask rules still apply, then it must equally still apply to buses. You simply can't have one metre+ with mask rule and have 60 people on a double deck bus, the two are incompatible. To allow 60 people back on a bus the one metre+ mask rule must go or a sufficiently good explanation given why the two are not incompatible. There is a substantial swathe of people who have been made scared witless during this pandemic and they need convincing to go out, convincing to go back to public transport and you'll never get them back until they feel safe. We need to understand and convince these people that it is safe to come back onto the buses and increasing capacity to 60 will only fuel these peoples fears and keep them away. As a society I think we have a real problem bringing these people back to normality. Unfortunately there are lots of people like this and their numbers are substantial enough to make a huge difference. Of course it will be fine for most people but that misses the point. You only need to get one such scared person back on the bus, have someone sit next to them who isn't wearing a mask or has there mask halfway down their face or not covering their nose, they then cough or sneeze and well need I say more about the impact it will have on them. You only need a very small number of people who do not comply with the rules to make this a problem. Sorry to be the party pooper here and I hope I am proven wrong here. It was the operators themselves, through their representative body the CPT (Confederation of Passenger Transport) who made the safety case for allowing more passengers on buses. High levels of vaccination prioritising those most vulnerable to the effects of covid-19, low infection rates now, and thorough cleaning regimes mean that it is now safe to allow an increase in capacity provided certain protocols remain. These are: only forward-facing seats to be occupied; seats behind driver remain out of use; all passengers continue to wear masks except if exempt; and windows should be open to allow ventilation. If you go on many operator websites you will see this revised advice being explained clearly I think there’s been a little confusion regarding the seats behind the driver. Initially it was believed they were to remain out of use but that advice must have changed - certainly on the handful of buses I saw this morning, the banners on those seats have been removed. The advice appears to be only rearward facing seats are to remain unoccupied so the sideways facing seats are apparently fair game
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Post by wirewiper on May 17, 2021 8:40:36 GMT
Oxford Airline has increased to an hourly service between Oxford and Heathrow Airport from today (17th May), still no service to and from Gatwick Airport. The new timetable requires four coaches; first departure from Oxford is at 04.00 and the last coach back from Heathrow Airport leaves at 22.40.
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Post by wirewiper on May 17, 2021 15:50:39 GMT
Saw a 35A in St Marychurch this afternoon with nearly every seat taken, almost like old times!
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Post by MetrolineGA1511 on May 23, 2021 13:12:42 GMT
Today I rode the 140 from Hayes to Yeading. The driver not only played several coronavirus related announcements (including mask enforcement, seats available upstairs etc), but told people to move onto the top deck. This happened quite a bit around Hayes Town and then nearer Yeading too. A similar thing happened on my X140 ride last July, where there were announcements about plenty of seats available upstairs. Yesterday was busier than that Saturday, even at Euston.
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Post by wirewiper on May 26, 2021 11:23:13 GMT
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Post by Eastlondoner62 on May 26, 2021 11:26:41 GMT
Did you know that it has been recommended that we only travel in or out of Hounslow* for essential reasons? Apparently it was put on a Government website on Friday night but they didn't bother to tell anyone. * Hounslow is one of the eight areas in England that is affected by the Indian variant B.1.617.2 I remember they were banging on about it on the radio while I was driving yesterday. Not sure how they think people will listen, not to mention where the boundaries of Hounslow are even defined.
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Post by wirewiper on May 26, 2021 11:28:13 GMT
Did you know that it has been recommended that we only travel in or out of Hounslow* for essential reasons? Apparently it was put on a Government website on Friday night but they didn't bother to tell anyone. * Hounslow is one of the eight areas in England that is affected by the Indian variant B.1.617.2 I remember they were banging on about it on the radio while I was driving yesterday. Not sure how they think people will listen, not to mention where the boundaries of Hounslow are even defined. I'm presuming they mean the Borough - but even then I'm not sure!
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Post by greenboy on May 26, 2021 11:49:14 GMT
I've heard mention of Hounslow and a few other places in news bulletins over the last few days, I didn't take that much notice as I'm not planning to go to any of them anytime soon.
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Post by mkay315 on May 26, 2021 12:01:57 GMT
I remember they were banging on about it on the radio while I was driving yesterday. Not sure how they think people will listen, not to mention where the boundaries of Hounslow are even defined. I'm presuming they mean the Borough - but even then I'm not sure! I think it could be the borough as a whole for a blanket rule but then specific areas with the boroughs could be on the extra caution list.
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