To think we should be checking in on buses

SleepingStandingUp · 2020-10-30T11:06:13+00:00

Like we do in cafes etc? Sat here on bus 2 which is a good 40 minutes, having opened all the windows because --idiots-- people keep closing them and it's occured to me it's very weird I'm not registered as being on here? If I tested tonight and was positive for Corona virus wouldn't the people in my bus want to know?

Plussizejumpsuit · 30/10/2020 11:08

This is a good idea. I haven't been on public transport since March. Poss not this year actually. But now we have a system for checking in we could do this on public transport. I guess you'd need to check out though too?

AldiIsla · 30/10/2020 11:09

Isn't that what the app is for?

We're in Scotland and have an app. If we get a positive result we update the app and it notifies others.

Original poster

SleepingStandingUp · 30/10/2020 11:09

But how do I tell the app I'm on the D46 bus?

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Original poster

SleepingStandingUp · 30/10/2020 11:10

If I had it now it would tell the bloke I'm sat by now but of o get a positive in 3 hours it won't tell the guy I've just sat by for 30 minutes

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StrawberrySquash · 30/10/2020 11:11

The Bluetooth on your phone is supposed to register the people you are near. But it does have to be on.

AldiIsla · 30/10/2020 11:12

This is the protect Scotland app. It uses Bluetooth, from what I understand if I test positive it notifies everyone who was around me for something like 15 minutes or longer if they also have the app.

To think we should be checking in on buses

Original poster

SleepingStandingUp · 30/10/2020 11:12

Even if I haven't scanned a barcode?

So why am I scanning barcodes?

I mean I'll continue to and yes Bluetooth is on, just like my mask

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movingonup20 · 30/10/2020 11:13

It checks who you are in proximity to for at least 15 mins (assuming everyone has installed the app and their Bluetooth turned on). As far as I'm aware there's no specific cases linked to land transport though, if you distance (which all transport should be 1m+) the risk is low. They are only letting 16 people on each bus here

AldiIsla · 30/10/2020 11:14

I don't know about the barcodes, sorry. I haven't been anywhere that uses them.

Sounds like you're doing absolutely everything you can. 👍

HollysBush · 30/10/2020 11:15

Definitely people should be checking in to buses same as restaurants etc. Im surprised they don’t have to actually!

heartshapedfaces · 30/10/2020 11:50

this is what the app is for. It would tell anyone you’d been around for more than 15 minutes

Original poster

SleepingStandingUp · 30/10/2020 11:51

if you distance (which all transport should be 1m+) the risk is low. They are only letting 16 people on each bus here yeah not happening here. Someone sat NEXT TO my husband on the bus the other day, I was so incensed 🤣. And Def more than 16

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Original poster

SleepingStandingUp · 30/10/2020 11:53

@HollysBush

Definitely people should be checking in to buses same as restaurants etc. Im surprised they don’t have to actually!

No bar code so no way to, DH reckons it's a time thing I wonder if it's because there's so many but certainly on buses that cross onto other towns you'd think they'd have it. To get to son's hospital, we cross from one tier2 town into a tier 2 city

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heartshapedfaces · 30/10/2020 11:54

@movingonup20

It checks who you are in proximity to for at least 15 mins (assuming everyone has installed the app and their Bluetooth turned on). As far as I'm aware there's no specific cases linked to land transport though, if you distance (which all transport should be 1m+) the risk is low. They are only letting 16 people on each bus here

HA! No distancing or number restrictions in my tier 3 area!

Noitjustwontdo · 30/10/2020 12:07

Definitely. I went on a bus for the first time since March about a fortnight ago and four people in close proximity to me didn’t wear a mask. The woman closest to me kept coughing too, it was a chesty cough but it still made me seriously anxious. I couldn’t move away from her because I had to stand in the pram area and she was sitting in the seat directly next to the pram area. I won’t be going on one again unless I have absolutely no other choice.

Noitjustwontdo · 30/10/2020 12:09

Oh and yeah, the (young) woman didn’t move when I got on the bus at all. There was an elderly man directly behind her also not wearing a mask. My anxiety went through the roof and it was only a 5 minute bus ride, I couldn’t wait to get off.

LindaEllen · 30/10/2020 12:17

If you have the app, it'll trace close contacts for you.
I'm not actually 100% sure of the point of checking in - possibly because you can't rely on everyone's phone connection at all times, so it's almost like a backup.

MereDintofPandiculation · 30/10/2020 12:29

So how on earth would you do it? The app doesn't work on older phones. So would you ban people from public transport if they hadn't got the app downloaded? Thus meaning they perhaps couldn't get to work, to food shopping, to medical appointments?

ScrapThatThen · 30/10/2020 12:35

I actually don't understand the checking in. I mean, if I check in to a large garden centre or a motorway services, unless the app also knows I was in close proximity to someone with a positive test, then I don't want to know about everyone who has passed through there the same day as me?

jellybeanz1212 · 30/10/2020 12:47

I hope we don't have to start scanning to get on a bus or train otherwise I'm gonna be worn out constantly using my bike 😅

DdraigGoch · 30/10/2020 13:36

My employer (a public transport operator) have said that they won't be putting Barcodes on because they will result in a large number of false contacts. If you get off a bus/train and someone who got on at the next stop tested positive, you might be identified as a contact even though you hadn't been remotely near one another.

Northofsomewhere · 30/10/2020 13:46

This would only work if you checked in and could check out again. What if you got off, someone got on at the next stop who later returned a positive test. You would the. Potentially have to isolate even though you hadn't been in the same vicinity. This is one of the limitations of the current system.

I'm not entirely sure how it works but you could spend 6 hours at Costa or 30 mins, only one of you may actually be near someone covid positive but both may have to self isolate if just using track and trace on the app without the location data on.

Original poster

SleepingStandingUp · 30/10/2020 16:34

@MereDintofPandiculation

So how on earth would you do it? The app doesn't work on older phones. So would you ban people from public transport if they hadn't got the app downloaded? Thus meaning they perhaps couldn't get to work, to food shopping, to medical appointments?

Yes, just like they're banned from going anywhere at the moment! That's my whole ploy really.

Presumably it would either be an optional extra or they'd have to have someone doing it by pen and paper but one person per bus would be CRAZY so assume optional extra

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Original poster

SleepingStandingUp · 30/10/2020 16:35

@DdraigGoch

My employer (a public transport operator) have said that they won't be putting Barcodes on because they will result in a large number of false contacts. If you get off a bus/train and someone who got on at the next stop tested positive, you might be identified as a contact even though you hadn't been remotely near one another.

Fair enough,thank you. And to those who have answers about blue tooth and the app

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LaMontser · 30/10/2020 17:08

Checking in is about contact tracing - so if there is a cluster or outbreak associated with a bar or restaurant the system can identify it quickly (a common denominator). The app itself is enough for the bus when most people aren’t together for long periods of time so the anonymous notifications are enough. It’s less likely that there’s going to be an outbreak associated with a bus under current circumstances.