(09 Sep 2020, 1:15 am)stagecoachbusdepot wrote It's without a shadow of a doubt worrying from a public health perspective if transport operators are allowing more passengers to board than can be safely accomodated for social distancing - especially with infection rates rising exponentially again. Leaving passengers to wait for the next vehicle would be the right thing to do (no reasonable person could expect every journey to have the required number of seats at the minute), allowing people to continue piling on is irresponsible (if indeed this is what is happening).
I've had a similar discussion before on another thread. Unfortunately, it is a grey area when it comes to capacity. 50-60% is the figure talked about but there are so many variables about bubbles etc. There is also the situation that inevitably, some drivers will just not want the hassle of refusing to allow anymore passengers onto the vehicle and will not think twice about staying out of a conflict situation. I sympathise with both sides of the argument but the moral standpoint is that in the current climate the driver is in the wrong if the bus is allowed to exceed capacity. The ticket machine is pre set to warn drivers about passenger numbers getting close to capacity and there are procedures in place to deal with that. This is in addition to the data analysis which will be taking place.
The point of my original reply was not to dismiss the need social distancing, moreover to highlight that this is a very new problem and one that has had to be designed with a degree of guesswork (for want of a better word). Dupes will inevitably be refined, reworked and increased as demand dictates. It does require everyone to pull together and understand that this is not something that is going to be got right first time, every time.
Like I have said, unfortunately there will be some who ignore this. I'm sure any drivers found to be knowingly allowing people onto an already full bus will be dealt with by GNE. Another thing to consider is that there was around half a dozen reports of full buses or overcrowding on that post. Half a dozen too many, I'm sure we all agree but social media is a double edged sword. I would say as a rough guess, 80-90% of posts on there are complaints about one thing or another. People obviously have a right to complain if there is an issue, but it does seem to overshadow the situations where drivers and the company have done the right thing one way or another.
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