SPTC urges public to leave early morning bus trips for people going to work |07 May 2020

The Seychelles Public Transport Corporation (SPTC) is urging members of the public travelling on early morning buses for not so essential trips to leave seats for people going to work and to respect the social distancing measure being enforced by drivers.

The SPTC is advising members of the public not going to work to use bus services after 9am for their personal businesses and other not so essential trips.

The SPTC’s call comes as a lot of people are being left stranded for long periods of time at bus stops as drivers enforce the social distancing measure on their respective buses whereby on all buses – big or small – only one passenger is allowed in the two-seat aisle while only two passengers are allowed in the three- seat aisle and no standing passengers are being taken onboard. All drivers have been asked to ensure the sitting arrangement is respected or else they would have to take full responsibility and pay a fine if ever their respective buses were to be controlled by the police.

Bernadette Soffola, the SPTC’s general manager for operations, said earlier this week that since last week the SPTC has been hoping that the morning peak hours between 5.30am and 9.00am would be left for people travelling to work only. Those commuters travelling for not so essential reasons are being encouraged to take buses after 9am and to return home between noon and 2.30pm.

“This would remove pressure on the morning services where people going to work need to get a seat on the bus to get to their workplaces on time but unfortunately many people still do not understand that they need to change their old travel routine if necessary and try to adapt to the new reality we are faced with. They need to stop travelling during the morning and afternoon peak hours leaving seats for workers,” Ms Soffola stressed.

“The SPTC has deployed the maximum of its resources, putting additional services in some key areas like Pointe Larue, Plaisance, Anse Aux Pins, Anse Royale… but still it is clear that there are lots of people who remain stranded at the bus stops for long periods as drivers enforce the social distancing measures. Unfortunately in spite of mobilising all its resources, the SPTC is still facing the challenge to transport the huge number of commuters who are not necessarily going to work,” remarked Ms Soffola.

As restrictions on people’s movement in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic were lifted this week and workers who were under home confinement resumed their duties, the SPTC has resumed its normal schedule of transporting passengers but under strict social distancing measures in place on its buses and this is an added challenge for the corporation.

As more people will resume work next week and some educational institutions will open, Ms Soffola said pressure on the public transport will no doubt increase and the SPTC is in talks with the Ministry of Education while it is also working on its own transportation strategies to effectively continue to meet transportation needs of its commuters in the coming weeks.

But Ms Soffola says the SPTC believes workplaces could help out with the transportation of their employees where possible and it would also be good for them to also consider more flexible working hours for their employees to help reduce the number of people taking the bus at the same time, thus relieving the pressure on public transport.

Meanwhile she has pointed out that resources have never been enough for the corporation but the SPTC has always striven to improve the services it offers commuters based on the resources it has and it will continue to do so. Furthermore she noted that in the new normal way of doing things, the SPTC is offering the same services to the public with a reduced number of passengers on its buses but with the same amount of resources.

“There are no additional buses and drivers, we are transporting fewer passengers on each bus at a time and this is a challenge for the SPTC,” said Ms Soffola.

She noted that it is high time for members of the public to realise the urgency of the new normal way that we have to do things and try to change their old mindset and attitude in order to adapt to the new bus travel reality which would no doubt contribute to reduce pressure on public transport.

Marie-Anne Lepathy