To be concerned about these school kids in the bus

[Afternooninthepark]

My dc go to secondary school.
I drive them to school but there are many school contract buses and public buses which bring the students in from the various surrounding villages.
Since the return of school last week, I have noticed on my journey back that there is this one public double decker bus which is packed full of students. It’s so full that each morning I can see there are lots of students standing in the downstairs aisle right up to the driver and the front windscreen. I don’t see any of the other buses like this especially the contacted school buses, no one is standing on those.
I don’t know anything about the laws of standing passengers on buses and can’t find much online so I may be fretting over nothing but if feel a little concerned for these kids safety? The driver is never driving that slow and these are young kids (many of those standing look year 7/8) they could be a serious risk if something happened. I know if one was my children I wouldn’t feel happy with them standing, cramped right up to the door and front screen.
I am going to email the head because this can’t be safe, surely?

It's perfectly normal to stand on the lower deck of a bus.

lughnasadh thanks, I wasn’t sure as I haven’t been on a bus for 30 years!

In London young and old always cramped right up to the doors during rush hour (not that you'd choose to do it if there was a choice). It's pretty standard if it's busy on buses. The bus will state on the wall how many are allowed standing on the upper and lower deck.

Email the head 😂 you'd love London!!

prig thanks, we are semi rural here so the buses can get up to quite a speed on the back roads, that’s what was concerning me I suppose.

turnthrbiglightoff thing is it’s stop and start in big cities but as we are semi rural with national speed limit roads, the buses can get up to quite a speed and all these kids are right up by the front screen.

There are usually signs on the bus which states how many can be seated and how many can stand, along with a notice that says ' do not stand forward of the driver'.
However, that notice may as well be telling you to eat a tomato for all the notice that is taken of it. 🙂

Fairly normal in London.

I would be more concerned about the lack of social distancing,are the bus companies allowed to have jam packed buses currently?

It’s normal to allow standing on the lower deck.

.... but it’s not normal for buses to be travelling at 60mph in London with passengers that number of passengers standing “right up to the windscreen” as OP said.

Is t the bigger issue that they are supposed to be social distancing on public transport still. Arriva got massively told off last week because the school run bus had people jammed in and had to put on additional services to support.

I pass a school bus like you describe on my way to work sometimes and I think the same. The driver allows the children to stand right up to his seat and I've thought before that it's a safety issue. When I used to commute by bus you weren't allowed to stand past a certain point, not London so maybe different rules.

There is little point emailing the head about a public bus service. If it were one of the contracts then yes, but a public bus service? Contact the bus company, copy in the head out of courtesy.

@x2boys

I would be more concerned about the lack of social distancing,are the bus companies allowed to have jam packed buses currently?

That was my first thought too. In normal times a school bus packed out is not unusual but I thought bus companies were required to limit passenger numbers.

If there are so many people standing up that they are near the windscreen or the driver then call the bus company. There is a limit on the number standing downstairs.

Are you sure they're not just all piling downstairs to get off the bus?

I have no concerns about an able bodied secondary school pupil being able to stand on a bus.

As for the Rona...here is the Stagecoach advice :

Social distancing on the bus:
Only one person can sit in a double seat, unless you’re with a member of your household or social bubble.
You must sit diagonal to the person in the row in front and behind. You should leave the seat behind and next to them empty.
Please leave the seat behind the driver free.
You will also notice posters on the bus with guidance on how to social distance while on the bus. See here for another on bus example poster.
If you’re physically able to use the top deck of the bus please do as this keeps seats free on the lower deck for people who are unable to use the stairs.
Don't stand on the bus.

Once you’re on the bus open a window, if you can, to help with ventilation.
When leaving the bus stay seated, ring the bell and take everything with you.
Let us know if you think your bus is too busy to allow for social distancing.

Although this is a public bus they may still have a contract with the local authority to take children to school. I also thought buses were meant to be limiting passengers at the moment.

I would contact the head with your concerns, or the local authority person responsible for school transport.

Its fairly standard on school buses, ours was like this along the 60mph A52 when I was in secondary school.

Although this is a public bus they may still have a contract with the local authority to take children to school.

I assumed when OP made the distinction between public and contract she knew what that meant tbh. If I picked that up incorrectly and it is indeed a contract bus I would contact both the school and the education department.

Today 09:15 lughnasadh

It's perfectly normal to stand on the lower deck of a bus.

Not where we live, not permitted. Half of the seats are blocked off too. There’s a clear notice on the side of the bus, explaining why (though would have thought that was pretty obvious at the moment, when things aren’t “ normal”.)

Ours have been like this for years. First Bus school service double deckers. Crammed full

I usually see the bus about 3 miles from the school so they are definitely traveling and not disembarking. It's one of our local public buses as it has the public on it too.
Covid rules seem to have bypassed my kids school. There are 1500 pupils, buses are jam packed and when I drop them off outside the school there are endless big groups of pupils, shoulder to shoulder.

Yep definitely a public bus. Some villages have contacted buses which the kids travel for free. This bus is one of the out of area ones that the parents pay for.

Standing is acceptable in "normal" times, but shouldn't be happening now. Our local bus company has doubled up buses for services known to be busy, particularly those stopping at schools and colleges.

There is supposed to be a limit, but this will often be overlooked. It was par for the course when I was at school. And you can guarantee that there will always be someone who decided to sit right at the back who needed to get off before the school stop and there would be an awkward 5 minutes as they made their way to front of the bus, climbing over school bags, trying not to touch the kids and mumbling "sorry, sorry, excuse me please, sorry, sorry".
However, I would have thought that wouldn't be the case at the moment. I assume the council is too tight to pay for a few more buses to make it safer.