Rea Vaya has reconfigured seating arrangements to compel passengers to adhere to social distancing measures when travelling inside Joburg’s mass transit bus system.
The new seating arrangement encourages daily travellers to observe lockdown regulations aimed at helping public transport commuters avoid transmitting or contracting the novel coronavirus.
All Rea Vaya seats marked with an X sign cannot be occupied or used by passengers and the bus system will no longer allow passengers to travel while standing to ensure full compliance with the law.
Nonhlanhla Makhuba, the City’s MMC for Transport says control points have been identified at high demand and connecting stations to check and monitor physical distancing requirements inside buses. The City’s police force, the JMPD will enforce the implementation of lockdown regulations from feeder buses to stations.
“These new measures are part of safety precautions taken to prevent the spread of Coronavirus and to save lives,” says Makhuba, adding that bus operators were pleased with passengers who wear masks when travelling and produce permits when asked to do so.
Under level 4 lockdown stipulations, each Rea Vaya bus is only permitted to operate at a minimum capacity to ensure social distancing. Arctic trunk buses (T1, T3) with a carrying capacity of 119 will now carry 28 passengers from Thokoza Park to the Joburg CBD and feeder buses, with a seating capacity of 82 may only ferry 21 passengers.
As part of public health precautions to limit the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic, Rea Vaya has installed full-body sanitizing and screening booths at the Thokoza and Orlando Stations in Soweto, which also scan the temperature of each commuter who passes through before boarding a bus. Frontline staff are also sanitized at all stations each time they board a bus.
“Passengers with temperatures beyond 37.5 degrees Celsius will not be allowed to travel and will be referred to the City’s regional clinics for further medical diagnosis,” she explains.
Makhuba says temperature monitors will soon be introduced at all stations to screen every passenger. All Rea Vaya buses and stations are sanitized at regular intervals and drivers have been kitted with personal protective equipment to ensure bus users are safe from contracting or transmitting the Covid-19 pandemic.
The MMC notes that although the new seating arrangement may inconvenience the majority of daily passengers, it’s important to observe social distancing “for the welfare and safety of our residents against the spread of the coronavirus”.
“Rea Vaya appeals to all passengers to cooperate with the JMPD, drivers and frontline staff to maintain the seating arrangement for social distancing. The transmission of illness from passenger to passenger can be reduced by keeping a safe social physical distance when queuing at stations and in the buses.”
