First Bus has responded to Government advice to enable social distancing on public transport and are currently implementing additional steps to ensure a safer journey for everyone. Please see their message below for new guidelines:

Our buses we will be operating at a reduced capacity with around 1 in 4 seats being available. The revised capacity will be displayed via a sticker on the exterior front of the bus. If any journey reaches its revised maximum capacity, the driver will update the destination screen to show “Bus full due to social distancing” and then adopt a one-off / one-on process at subsequent stops.

Customers will be encouraged to sit next to a window with a row empty in front and a row empty behind with seat labelling in place as necessary. Please note these seating measures are advisory for customers and we will not be asking our drivers to enforce them or leave their cab area, unless operating the manual bus ramp. The driver will help advise customers when boarding where seats are available.

We will also be encouraging customers to wear face coverings, if they can. Please note we will not be asking drivers to wear face coverings whilst driving as it may prove to be a distraction. In addition, the cab area is separated from the saloon by a screen.

Although bus services are only provided for those that need to make essential journeys, we expect there will be occasions when customers may not be able to board their intended journey due to capacity levels being reached. In line with this, we are therefore advising those who cannot avoid public transport to check their journey details in advance, avoid busier periods and allow extra time for their journey as they may need to wait if their bus is full when it arrives.