The wartime message “Is your journey really necessary?” came out of retirement when governments across the UK dissuaded people from using public transport at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. Covid-19 messages have continued to be displayed in some areas, well after Covid-19 restrictions for public transport ended. Perhaps the bus industry and transport authorities should ask themselves: “Is your Covid warning really necessary?”
While the examples in this article relate to Wales, the situation is evident elsewhere, as some Buses readers have pointed out.
Transport for Wales (TfW) acted with commendable speed to launch a recovery marketing campaign in late March. The key message is that trains and buses are ways to rediscover places, reconnect with family and friends, and return to a working life which is more balanced between workplace and home.
On May 7, I noticed a TfW poster on the rear of a Cardiff Bus vehicle urging people to ‘take the bus and catch up with the people you’ve missed’. However, on the same day a prominent poster in a bus shelter in Llandaf, Cardiff, warned that ‘face coverings are mandatory on public transport’ and asked people to ‘keep to social distancing measures’, wit…
