Transport User Voice – July 2020 – On the blog

30 June 2020

Round-up of the month

Anthony has been blogging about social distancing rules, face coverings and motorway services.

Before the Prime Minister’s announcement on the one-metre plus rule, Anthony talked about whether public transport is sustainable if the two-metre rule were to stay in place:

“We know that capacity on public transport is still severely limited – around 20 per cent of what it was pre-virus. So how will public transport cope with this extra demand – the question of who can use it, and when, will become an even more important issue.” Read more.

We looked further at the subject by gathering the views from our Transport User Panel.

Anthony said: “There seems to be little appetite to abandon social distancing altogether on public transport and simply have a ‘free for all’. As prevalence of the virus recedes, it seems the change to the two-metre social distancing rule might go some way to balancing passengers’ competing needs, both to keep a distance and for enough space onboard to allow more people to travel and help reboot the economy.” Read more.

Face coverings were top of the agenda for many on Monday 15 June when they became mandatory on public transport. We also took a look at how those on Twitter felt about it.

Anthony said: “With the re-opening today of many retail stores, is a trip into town to buy a pair of socks or shoes essential? While you could argue that it may not be critically essential for the consumer, but perhaps a small but vital cog in the wheel helping to get our economy going again. Making more people feeling as safe, reassured and confident on public transport will have a huge part to play in helping the economy bounce back too.” Read more.

And as more people started making trips by car important questions were raised about what was available on these journeys. Would people be able to get food and use the toilet – where was open and where wasn’t?

Anthony said: “Customers will want to know what to expect from a visit to the services as they emerge from lockdown. We are asking motorway services operators to check that their websites are clear on the points we know are important to road users.” Read more.

 

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