The world is currently going through one of the biggest challenges it has encountered since over a decade with a Covid-19 pandemic that has resulted in the people around the world isolating themselves and remaining in Quarantine for an undetermined period of time. As lockdown restrictions are slowly decreasing, Punjab Government have recently announced that ride-hailing services can resume their work.
The Punjab government recently announced that ride-hailing services will be allowed to operate in the regions they operate in from the second week of June. They have stressed the importance that riders need to follow the SOPs that were issued by the WHO along with other transport services. The provincial transport department issued an announcement that this was done as to help the public move on with their lives and help the public who use it. This works well with the ongoing decrease in transport prices due to the fall in fuel costs. The announcement stated that: “Air-conditioned bus fares are reduced by 20 percent while non-AC bus fares will go down by 93 paisas per kilometer.”
The Punjab Government mentioned the SOPs that need to be followed to observe social distancing measures such as the transporters will now be required to make sure there is a minimum distance of three meters and that people are keeping safe distance amongst people. The vehicles also need to have two doors where only one should use one for entry and other for exit purposes only. One more important guideline was that after each trip, the buses should be disinfected and passengers should have face masks along with hand sanitizers whenever they enter. Before the people get on the bus, the temperature of every passenger must be checked and the terminals should be disinfected with chlorine spray. The SOPs have also confirmed that the adjacent seat of a passenger above 65-year-old should remain vacant.
