Coronavirus information

Page updated: 13/05/2021

At First Bus your safety and comfort on board are our priority. As the government restrictions ease you will notice that more people are travelling and coming together safely. This means that places and buses are busier than they have been; so once you board, you might find you have to sit next to someone. To help with the increased number of passengers we will be increasing the capacity on our buses, in England from Monday 17th May.

Wearing masks
It is a legal requirement to wear a mask when using public transport. Unless you are exempt in-line with the government guidance, please ensure a face covering is worn for the entire journey and that it covers your nose and mouth to help stop the spread of the coronavirus.

Government guidance in England ⇒
Government guidance in Wales ⇒
Government guidance in Scotland ⇒

Cashless payments
Please do not pay with cash, help to keep us all safe and limit the spread of the virus. Alternative ways to pay include:

First Bus App: Not only can you buy your tickets in advance, but you can plan your journey, check live bus times, track your bus live on a map. You can see how far the bus is from your stop and how many seats are free. If you haven’t already got it you can download it here. ⇒
Pay contactless: To avoid handling cash, go contactless and pay either with a contactless card, Google or Apple Pay. More details here. ⇒

Please see here for the latest timetable and service information in your area ⇒

Safe and responsible travel
We’ve got each stage of your journey covered to help you travel comfortably to your destination. It’s still worth planning ahead and leaving more time for your journey if possible. Here’s some travel tips to help you:

Before you travel

Use the award winning First Bus App. With great travel features to help you move confidently, including buying an mTicket so you don't need to use cash on the bus, journey planning, track your bus live on a map. You can see how far it is from your stop and how many seats are free ⇒
Where possible, please wash your hands before and after travelling and we advise you to bring your own hand sanitiser with you.
If you are flexible on travel times, use our Space Checker tool ⇒ which allows you to plan ahead to see when your favourite bus stop and service is usually less busy.
Some seating restrictions are in place on our buses, this means that our buses are not at full capacity. Where possible we have increased services to meet travel demand but there might be times where the bus has reached its new capacity, and you might see a "Bus Full" sign. So, please allow plenty of time for your journey and be prepared to wait.
From May 17th 2021, in England the capacity of our buses will increase, safely providing as much capacity as possible in-line with the latest Government advice.
This is possible due to new seating restrictions which will mean that every passenger is able to be seated in a forward-facing or side-facing position but the use of rear-facing seats will not be permitted.

There may be situations where it is more difficult to maintain distance from people, for example when boarding or alighting, on busier services, at busier times of day and when walking through interchanges. In these cases, you should avoid physical contact, try to face away from other people, and keep the time you spend near others as short as possible.
Please don’t forget your face covering for your journey (unless exempt). It is a legal requirement to wear a face covering which needs to cover your mouth and nose and must remain in place for the entire journey until you have left the bus.
Information regarding face covering exemptions in England ⇒
For face covering exemptions in Scotland ⇒
For face covering exemptions in Wales ⇒
If you are exempt from wearing a face covering please be prepared to inform your driver or show a Sunflower lanyard or our journey assistance card: Extra help to Travel Card ⇒
We encourage all customers in England and Wales to download the NHS COVID-19 app ⇒ and all customers in Scotland to download the Protect Scotland app ⇒ from NHS Scotland’s Test & Protect. Both apps are free to download from the App Store and Google Play.
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At the bus stop

Why not use the First Bus app ⇒ to track where your bus is, and reduce the amount of time you’re waiting at the bus stop.
You can also see how many seats are available on the bus so that you’re confident there is plenty of space to travel, or if you are not time restricted you may wish to catch a later bus which is less busy.
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When waiting at the stop, space out from fellow passengers.
Face coverings must be worn on our buses unless exempt, otherwise you could be fined. For details of exemptions in your area please see the FAQ’s below.
When the bus arrives, please allow time and space for passengers to leave the bus before you step onboard.
If you are waiting at a bus stop and the bus drives past, it might have reached its reduced seating capacity. If the bus does stop, but is near capacity, the driver will only allow one person to board for every person that gets off, so make sure to allow extra time for your journey and be prepared to wait. With the latest version of the First Bus App you can now track your bus live on a map and it also displays how many seats are available on each bus.
Get your bus ticket or payment ready, whether it’s activating your mTicket, having your concessionary pass or contactless card out or ensuring you have the right change. It all helps speed up boarding and minimise the time with your driver making it safer for everyone.

On board

Face coverings must be worn on our buses and throughout the journey unless exempt, otherwise you could be fined. For details of exemptions in your area please see the FAQ’s below.
Please do not pay with cash.
We encourage passengers to make cashless payments to avoid cash handling. If you need to use cash, we would be very grateful if you could provide the correct fare for your journey as no change is given (certain operating areas only):
In Glasgow, West Lothian and Aberdeen we operate our services on an exact fare, no change given basis.
Please do not sit on any seats that have been marked off. If the bus has few passengers on board, we ask that you spread yourself out on the vehicle to give everyone as much space as possible.
Even if temperatures are low it's really important that windows on the bus remain open to assist air flow. If you get on the bus and notice a window has been closed, please open it to help us maintain this.
Please be patient while getting on and off and do not queue in the aisle or next to the driver. If you are able, please sit upstairs when possible leaving lower deck seats for those less mobile.
Please refrain from eating or drinking on board and please take any rubbish with you to assist with keeping our buses as clean as possible.
We are continuing with the systematic daily deep cleaning of our vehicles and facilities, particularly regular disinfection of touch points such as handrails, poles and window handles. For more details on our enhanced cleaning programme, please see below.

FAQs

Our drivers may not be wearing a face covering or mask while driving as this can be distracting, particularly for those who wear glasses, as there is a risk these get steamed up while driving. The cab has a protective screen to separate the driver and passengers. If a driver is required to leave their cab to assist a passenger, a face covering will be worn.

Our drivers will advise customers wherever possible but they cannot enforce social distancing measures. Please note the seating measures we have introduced are advisory for customers and we will not be asking our drivers to enforce them or leave their cab area, unless operating the manual bus ramp. Our driver will help advise customers when boarding where seats are available.

It is the law that unless you have an exemption, you must wear a face covering for your entire journey when travelling on public transport. The driver cannot enforce this but you may be liable to a fixed penalty notice if you refuse.

Exemptions for the use of face coverings will apply to those with certain health conditions, disabled people and children under the age of 11 (in England and Wales) or under 5 (in Scotland). Children under the age of 3 should not wear face coverings. To see the government guidance on face covering exemptions please follow these links:

Information regarding face covering exemptions in England ⇒
For face covering exemptions in Scotland ⇒
For face covering exemptions in Wales ⇒

If you are exempt from wearing a face covering please be prepared to inform your driver or show a Sunflower lanyard or our journey assistance card: Extra help to Travel Card ⇒

Yes, and by working with our customers we will continue to provide a bus network that is safe and allows everyone to complete their journeys. In line with UK Government advice, we are continuing with the systematic daily deep cleaning of our vehicles and facilities and screens are fitted to all cabs, separating drivers from passengers. Drivers also have access to gloves and hand sanitiser and all staff are encouraged to wash their hands regularly.

To help with this we are asking our customers to:

Wear a face covering when on board (unless you meet the exemption criteria set by the government)

Please be aware of others who may have a priority need to travel

Look out for ‘Bus full’ messages on the destination display, which means the bus might not stop

Be prepared to allow extra time or waiting to complete your journey

From the 17th of May 2021, in England the capacity of our buses will be at some 80% of seated passengers which safely provides as much capacity as possible and is in line with the latest Government advice. This is possible due to new seating restrictions which will mean that every passenger is able to be seated in a forward-facing or side-facing position but the use of rear-facing seats will not be permitted.

If the bus has few passengers on board, we ask that you spread yourself out on the vehicle to give everyone as much space as possible.

There is usually sufficient capacity on our buses but it's best to plan your travel in advance.

With the latest version of the First Bus App ⇒ you can now track your bus live on a map and it also displays how many seats are available on each bus. The Space checker tool ⇒ also helps you to see when the busier and quieter times of the day are likely to be for up to 7 days ahead.

We also advise that you try to travel before the last service of the day, to avoid the risk of the last service bus being full. We will not be able to run extra buses after the last service bus.

Customers can choose to stand (lower deck only). Standing passengers will not increase the number of passengers each bus is able to carry, based on our new seat restrictions.

The majority of our services are running and we have made changes to our services to better support key workers, and to help manage reduced capacity due to the social distancing measures we have in place following Government guidance.

Please see here for the latest timetable and service information in your area ⇒

From the 17th of May 2021 the capacity of our buses will be at some 80% of seated passengers which safely provides as much capacity as possible and is in line with the latest Government advice. It is possible that not all passengers will be able to board the first bus that arrives. You might see 'Bus full’ messages on the destination display, which means the bus may not stop.

Our buses are comprehensively cleaned every night by our expert team of cleaners, including regular disinfection of all grab rails and poles, entrance door handles, window ledges and other touchpoints. Viricidal detergents are used. We use a long-lasting sanitising treatment on all buses and depots, which kills germs on surfaces. It is environmentally-friendly, uses no alcohol or dangerous chemicals, and is proven to be a highly effective antimicrobial surface sanitiser. We are also encouraging good hand hygiene amongst all our staff and providing personal protective equipment such as gloves and hand sanitiser to all our drivers.

The Check-in process as part of the track&trace App is designed to look for clusters in post code areas. Because buses move across areas, the data collected wouldn’t be valid.

Support for disabled passengers remains the same as before coronavirus, see here for more details ⇒

We offer our full support to wheelchair users who want to travel with us. While some of our seats are blocked with signs or tape, our wheelchair spaces remain available. All our buses have a dedicated area for wheelchair users; other passengers are required to give up the space for wheelchair users. Please ask the driver for assistance if you require any help.

If the driver needs to leave their cab to provide passenger assistance they will wear a face covering.

Wheelchair users have priority over everyone else for the use of the designated wheelchair space, since this is the only place in which they can travel safely.

If the ramp is required please keep a safe distance while the driver puts the ramp in place.

The driver will keep the time they are in close contact with you to an absolute minimum.

We're here for you

We’re absolutely committed to being there for our customers and you can contact us by phone on 0345 646 0707 between 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday and we're available on Twitter 7am until 7pm Monday to Friday, and 9am-5pm weekends and bank holidays. Please see our Help and Support page for contact details.

Keeping you updated
To help us communicate quickly and easily with you, register your details with us here:

Travel advice videos:
	Travel safely on our buses: Social distancing and travel information: Video ⇒
	Face coverings: Video ⇒
	First Bus App: Know where your bus is and how many seats are available: Video ⇒
	Cleaning on our buses: Video ⇒