Bus Company Issues Advice on Safe Travel for Schoolchildren on Yorkshire Coast

Bus operator East Yorkshire has some advice for parents of children returning to school, ahead of the start of the new academic year.

Young people across the region will be returning to education at the start of September, with some having not travelled since lockdown began. The bus company has created a ‘Getting Back to Travel Safely’ guide, which is available on their website, to help parents make sure their children are aware of what they need to do to travel safely and easily.

The guide reminds parents of the main things children should do on board, including:

• Washing or sanitising your hands before and after travelling.

• Paying by contactless or buying tickets on the East Yorkshire Buses app, if possible.

• Following social distancing signs on board regular service buses.

• Wearing a face covering throughout the journey, except for children under 11 or those with disabilities.

• Not travelling if you have any coronavirus symptoms, however mild.

Area Director for East Yorkshire, Ben Gilligan, said:

“Lockdown has been going on a long time, and it’s understandable that some people may not have travelled by bus for a while, and may be unsure about what the current guidance is. We’d encourage all parents to make sure their children are aware of the importance of following the advice. Our buses are clean and safe to travel on, but we need people to follow the guidance to keep them and others safe on their journey.”

The company will also be running extra buses on some routes to try to help with social distancing, and government guidance allows for larger numbers of students to be carried on dedicated school services that are closed to the public.

“Social distancing means our buses can’t carry as many people as normal,” Ben Gilligan said. “Where we expect to see large numbers of students, we’ll be adding extra buses, and we’ll be monitoring passenger numbers for the first few days of term to see where extra buses need to be. We have a range of tools to allow customers to plan their travel around times when buses have more space available on them.”

The safe travel guide and journey travel planners can be found by visiting the East Yorkshire website at www.eastyorkshirebuses.co.uk