On my walk this morning I noticed the buses had changed their signage for passengers. During the lockdown double-decker buses and those with middle doors, were only letting people on through the middle doors rather than the front of the bus.

Today that all changed. TFL announced that buses would be letting people on, only through the front to help social distancing. Along with this, I noticed a sign saying maximum 20 people on the bus ( this was a double-decker). I wonder how the bus driver will enforce this? These changes seem to only be on some routes, while other routes have different rules.

Bus capacity changes

To further ensure the safety of customers and bus drivers, new limits to the number of customers on board at any one time will be introduced:

• Double-decker buses with multiple doors will have a capacity of 20 people. Drivers will have the discretion to allow up to 25 passengers, if households are travelling together 
• Single-decker buses will have a capacity of between 6 and 10 people. Drivers will have the discretion to allow up to 7 or up to 14 passengers if households are travelling together, depending on the size of the bus

This will help customers to observe the national guidance to maintain a two-metre distance between them and others wherever possible.

As more and more people return to work, I wonder how much they will be able to maintain this. The Mayor for London wants people to avoid public transport where possible but this is not an option for everyone. Many people rely upon the trains and buses to get to and from work.

The other thing I noticed was the sign asking people to wear a face covering on the bus. So face masks are not compulsory in the UK like they are in other European countries.

Face coverings

Wear a face covering when travelling. Find out how to make a face covering. All our front-line staff are being given face coverings and we’ve also asked all taxi and private hire companies to wear face coverings and ensure protective measures are in place.

Out and about there is a mixed amount of people wearing masks. It’s a lot fewer than I thought there would be. I tend to wear mine when I am going into shops or walking through busy areas, but not all the time. It is just a cotton cloth reusable one. I wash it after each use. For a lot of people this is not an option. If you are a low income family, then buying a cloth one from say etsy ( where I got mine) is not an option at £8 a pop. Also not everyone has the ability to make one. I know in France the government has been posting masks out to people. Watching people on the buses over the last few days very few people have masks on.

It will be interesting to see how TFL continues to manage the situation. I am not sure what it is like in other cities around the UK, how they are managing the situation?