Hampshire County Council and bus companies reveal measures to transport children back to school safely

It’s part of the council’s push to get children to travel ‘actively and sustainably, when they return to classrooms in September. To encourage more people to cycle, walk or scoot the the council has created additional walkways and cycle routes.

Leader of Hampshire County Council, Cllr Keith Mans, said: ‘Our teams have been working hard – with extra funding from government - to ensure all young people have a safe and reliable route to school and college when they start their new academic year.

‘During lockdown, many people walked and cycled more than before and through the summer we’ve put in a range of temporary travel infrastructure which allows more space for cycling and walking while maintaining a safe social distance.

‘This reallocation of road space can be used by anyone walking, cycling or scooting to school and we have put in a bid for more government funding for additional schemes to build on this.’

For students for whom this is not a practical option, Cllr Mans wanted to reassure parents about the ‘robust’ procedures in place to ensure the safe transit of pupils using school transport.

Cllr Mans said: ‘I’m confident that our home to school transport service has robust arrangements in place, including new Covid-safe measures and procedures, and we have been communicating regularly with schools as we plan for the new term.

‘We’ve also been working closely with transport operators in the county to ensure there is sufficient capacity to get students back to schools and colleges where they use public transport.’

One of those operators, Stagecoach, has unveiled its measures put in place to keep pupils safe, such as dedicated student and pupil-only services, increased carrying capacity with additional school and college buses and ensuring all government social distancing guidelines are adhered to, including the wearing of face masks for children over 11.

The company has also updated its App with a 'Busy Bus' function, where customers can check to see how busy their intended bus is before it arrives, and a Back to School section on its website to help reassure anxious parents.

SEE ALSO: Hampshire schools look forward to welcoming children back into classrooms

Managing director for Stagecoach South, Edward Hodgson, said: ‘As students return to school and more people start to get back to work, we want to make sure they can be confident about their journey with us.

‘We’ve worked closely with local authorities to put a number of additional measures in place including dedicated school bus services and extra buses on busy routes to ensure we have capacity where needed.

‘We’re continuing with our extensive daily cleaning of all buses and with everybody playing their part and following the rules on wearing face coverings and hygiene. People can continue to travel to work, school and college by bus safely and confidently.’

Andrew Wickham, managing director of Go South Coast, and a member of the South Hampshire Bus Operators Association, added: ‘Bus operators in Hampshire have extra bus cleaning processes in place and buses are a safe way of getting to and from school and college.’

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