London buses ‘now safe for front-door boarding’
WHEN lockdown was announced, Transport for London moved quickly to introduce measures that would keep staff and customers as safe as possible.
One of those measures was introducing middle-door only boarding on London buses.
The idea behind it was that it would better protect drivers who did not have adequate protection at their seats. TfL also removed payments for those using the buses, but that has since been reinstated on many routes.
So why is it now safe to re-introduce front door boarding on some London bus routes?
The answer is that analysis from University College London shows that safety improvements to screens have made it possible.
TfL said: “The move follows extensive work by a multidisciplinary team from UCL’s Centre for Transport Studies and Department of Civil, Environmental & Geomatic Engineering to assess the risks for drivers in their cabs and close work with bus operators and the UNITE union to develop improvements to the screens beside bus drivers.
“The UCL analysis finds that the steps that TfL has taken, by adding a film layer to screens and sealing off gaps around the screen as a whole, including around the Oyster reader, substantially reduces the risk to drivers of contracting coronavirus from customers.
“This is on top of the rigorous cleaning regime, which sees cabs and handrails, along with other regularly touched areas, treated with hospital-grade anti-viral disinfectant.”
Double-decker buses can carry 20 people, while single-decker buses can carry between six and 10 customers.
The phased approach to frontdoor boarding is expected to be completed by mid-June.
Heidi Alexander, deputy mayor for transport, said: “The safety of our transport workers and passengers is absolutely paramount.
“Working closely with unions, TfL has introduced a range of measures to improve safety, including putting in place an enhanced anti-viral cleaning regime across the network, applying a protective film to the Perspex screen of bus driver cabs to seal off holes, and preventing passengers sitting next to bus drivers.
“All frontline staff have also been offered simple face masks.
“From this weekend passengers will be asked to resume boarding through the front door on some of our buses.
“All buses where we are reverting to front-door boarding have had additional work carried out to seal off the opening at the bottom of the safety screen, which was historically used for cash payments.
“Scientific advice has confirmed that it is safe for front-door boarding to resume on these buses thanks to these improvements.
“These enhancements are urgently being rolled out across the network on a route-by-route basis.
“Our message to Londoners is clear though – please work from home and travel on foot or bike if you can.
“Public transport is a precious resource that should be preserved for those who need it, but if you absolutely have to travel on our network, wear a face mask, avoid the busiest times and respect the new arrangements to enable everyone to travel safely.”