A little over 2 months ago, the global Coronavirus pandemic brought the entire country to a halt when a 3-week lockdown(later extended for another 3 weeks) was imposed to contain the spread of the virus. Now, with the lockdown being lifted and India reopening, people eagerly await to bring their daily life back to normal. At least to an extent.
We are approaching the end of Unlock 1.0 after the nation was in a near 3-month lockdown due to the pandemic. People have finally begun getting their lives back to normal, to an extent. As we will continue to combat daily challenges post the lockdown, one crucial sector of urban life will be heavily affected. The urban transport sector.
What can India, the most congested country in the world, do to ensure its people commute as safe as possible?
What are other countries doing?
The confined spaces and limited ventilation of public transport vehicles could lead to infections spreading among passengers. To counter this problem, multiple countries across the globe have implemented certain rules and regulations while others increased their safety measures.
In China, public transport was active only to transport goods and medical staff. Post-lockdown, regular health checkpoints were set up, sanitiser and masks were made compulsory and the capacity of occupants in public vehicles was reduced by half. Other cities across Asia have increased the use of hand sanitiser on public transport and enhanced the cleaning of their ventilation systems.
In Europe, many public transport services have closed off the use of the front door in buses, to reduce the infection risk for drivers.
What is India doing?
At the very moment the lockdown was announced, public transport across the country came to an immediate stop. That also included the Mumbai central railway, one of the world’s busiest rail systems.
Mentioned earlier by Shivaji Sutar, a senior communications officer of the railways, they are monitoring crowds, scrubbing the trains, taking the temperature of willing passengers, and embarking on a drive against public spitting. Other than this, the government has also advised staggering work timings and precautionary measures to be undertaken while commuting. But, as people commute to work every day, is this enough to keep them safe? Yulu seems to have the answer.
Is social distancing while commuting the answer?
The answer to that is, YES! Don’t get us wrong, the implementation of rules and regulations to keep public transportation safe is critical. But the root of the problem still persists, with the fact that, people are still commuting in close proximity to each other.
To reduce the infection risk even further, the answer lies in social distancing while commuting. As a brand, we believe that in a time of this pandemic, human contact should be reduced to as little as possible.
Yulu offers individuals thoroughly sanitised vehicles that lets them commute solo and away from the contact of others. Let’s not forget it’s greener for the planet too.
As our life slowly begins to return to normal, we must minimise the risk of infections as much as possible. With the right choices, the world can stay safe and free of this dreaded virus.