Social distancing technology makes travelling safer

As Britain begins to return to work, a combination of reduced public transport services and overcrowding mean that public transport is currently not a safely viable option for all who need it. Kura’s services, already in use in more than 30 schools across the country, as well as with a variety of businesses in the online retail, NHS services and food sectors, has subsequently been updated to allow businesses to keep track of exactly who has travelled on work shuttle buses each day, to facilitate contact tracing.

Updates to Kura’s service and processes mean that companies can be safe in the knowledge that their staff will be the Government-mandated two metres apart from the next passenger. Through these measures, combined with adapted routes, businesses will be able to safely transport pupils to and from the workplace, while maintaining social distancing measures and minimising the risk of infection.

The technology enables contact-tracing, with the Kura app holding a secure record of everyone who travelled on the service and when, including where they embarked and disembarked. This means businesses can monitor who may have been in proximity to anyone with a confirmed case quickly and efficiently to ensure containment.

Kura is further ensuring passenger safety with a range of precautionary measures. These include fully-contactless registration, with passengers tapping on and off the bus using their pre-assigned fobs, a cap on the number of workers allowed to ride on each vehicle, and each vehicle being thoroughly disinfected between journeys.

Kura harnesses powerful tracking and app technologies to provide schools and businesses with a safer, greener and more cost-efficient shared transport service, increasing uptake of managed transport and in turn reducing traffic congestion. The business currently manages a virtual fleet of 30,000 vehicles and, pre-lockdown, Kura’s technology was in use over 300 travel routes.

Mathew Hassell, founder and CEO at Kura, said: “While getting the nation back to work is of course crucial for the economy, concerns understandably remain around how staff can safely travel to and from the workplace each day without risking overcrowded public transport services.

“The UK coach and minibus industry has thousands of vehicles ready to go now, that can accommodate groups of passengers comfortably while maintaining safe social distancing measures. However, to make shared vehicles a viable option more needed to be done to ensure the safety of passengers on-board, which is why we’ve adapted our existing groundbreaking technology to specifically meet the needs of those who will need to travel to and from their place of work over the coming months.”

This announcement follows Kura’s previous pledge, through its parent group Transport2 to work alongside its nationwide network of shared transport operators to offer home-to-work shuttle services that allow crucial frontline staff to travel to and from work safely.