Coronavirus Safer Bus Travel
At First Eastern Counties, your safety is our top priority. As the country moves out of lockdown, we are working with the Government and wider industry to ensure we are following the latest advice to keep you safe on our buses.
Face coverings are now compulsory for any passengers travelling in England until further notice, unless you have an exception set out by the government. Click here for more information on face coverings and the government's exemption criteria.
Let's look after each other...
We have responded to government advice to enable social distancing on public transport and you’ll notice additional steps being taken to ensure a safe journey for everyone.
You can find more information and Safer Travel Guidance for Passengers from the government here.
Our buses will be operating at a reduced capacity with around half of the seats being available. We would ask that people travel off peak wherever possible to avoid busy times, but you still may see ‘Bus Full’ signs as some services reach their revised capacity more quickly.
Occasionally a bus may not stop, most likely as it has reached its reduced seating capacity. If the bus does stop, but is near capacity, the driver will only allow one person to board for every person that gets off, so you may need to allow extra time for your journey and be prepared to wait.
In addition, you will also see further measures in place to help enable you to comply with social distancing guidelines. These include:
- New capacity signs by the entrance of each bus
- Seat signs and stickers to clearly show where you should and shouldn't sit to maintain a safe distance
- Reminders to be considerate of other passengers
- No longer allowing standing
What can you do to stay safe?
You can help us by changing your behaviour in line with the reduced capacity:
- Plan your travel in advance, avoiding peak periods
- Please observe social distancing on-bus and at bus stops
- Wear a face covering when on board
- Sit in a marked seat, leaving an empty seat next to you - household groups are allowed to sit together.
- On our double deckers, consider sitting upstairs (if you are able)
- Pay with contactless or purchasing your ticket in advance on our Mobile App
- Use the correct change if you must pay by cash
- No eating or drinking while on board
- Leave windows open to aid ventilation
Keeping you informed and updated
We are working hard to ensure that our website, social media feeds and colleagues are updated with the latest information, as quickly as possible.
Our telephone lines remain open if you do need to talk to us. Our operating hours are 9am-5pm Monday to Friday. Outside of these hours you can contact us via the contact form on our website. Our team will be monitoring Twitter at the weekends between 9am and 5pm and on weekdays between 7am and 7pm.
Coronavirus - School Bus Information
With children returning to school we have taken additional measures to ensure that they can return safely when they travel by bus with First Eastern Counties.
Coronavirus Bus Service FAQ's
We've put together some of the most commonly asked questions about our bus services during the Coronavirus outbreak with answers below.