Under Level 5 of the Plan for Living with Covid-19, from Thursday morning public transport will operate at 25% capacity, primarily for the purposes of allowing those providing essential services to get to work.
We expect that the overall national restrictions that will be in place under Level 5 will lead to a fall in demand for public transport. At this stage, it is our view that we will be in a position to accommodate that demand within the 25% ceiling.
Overall capacity will be greater under Level 5 compared to say March and April of this year. That’s partly because thanks to a government subsidy, commercial operators are now providing far more services than they did earlier this year, and partly because PSO services are being maintained at current levels.
If there are particular pressure points that emerge NTA will be able to respond, and address them at local level as required.
We would ask people to avoid travelling at times of the day when a lot of school children are using public transport, (07:30-08:30 and 15:30-17:30), and only to use public transport for essential purposes.
We would like to thank our customers for complying to date with the requirement to wear a face covering while on board public transport and we look forward to their continued co-operation in this regard.
We continue to encourage people to walk or cycle where possible.
