Arriva said in a statement this afternoon “that the unstable weather undoubtedly creates traffic havoc on our roads and with the back-to-school period coming up, additional traffic congestion will become a daily headache not just for public transport, but for all drivers including parents and school vans ferrying school children to and from schools.”
The company said that it “wishes to make a special appeal to all drivers in order to ease this problem and improve public transport during this particular period, when private cars increase considerably and considerably slows the flow of traffic.”
Arriva said it asking private car and school transport operators “to follow some basic practices, which help the public transport service to operate efficiently.”
A spokesman for Arriva said that “the major problems buses face every day and especially during the busiest commuting periods are cars and vans not properly parked or parked too closely to the reserved space for bus-stops, making it difficult, sometime impossible for the bus to enter and leave the designated space, thus blocking the way for other vehicles at its rear
“The other major obstacles, which cause unnecessary delays or cause collisions concern overtaking a bus and then drivers slow down or stop. Bus drivers are not able to stop quickly enough to avoid collisions and the resulting congestion.”
“Finally,” the spokesperson said, “we would also like to recommend to private vehicle drivers to give way to oncoming buses, since buses often appear to be traveling at a slower pace because of their size.
“This is the primary cause of many passenger vehicle/bus collisions, which take place at intersections because vehicle drivers do not realise how close the bus was or how quickly it was travelling.”