Interstates Travel: Ministry of Transportation rolls out passengers guidelines for safe reopening of roads
In the next phase of lockdown easing (i.e. phase 3), the Government seeks to loosen restrictions on interstate travel, especially for non-essential transport. Through this easing, the health and safety of the Nigerian citizenry, including transport workers and passengers, remains a key priority. It is noted that transportation can facilitate the spread of COVID-19 as vehicles and terminals provide circumscribed environments within which people from different geographical areas assemble and intermix. Hence, guidelines to address the reopening of mass transit for interstate transportation, have been carefully designed to achieve the following objectives:
o Protect – to ensure the safety of operators, workers, and passengers
o Prevent – to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 virus
o Provide – to provide support for all stakeholders interacting with the mass-transit systems.
· The Federal Ministry of Transportation is committed to ensuring the sustainability of the sector, while guaranteeing a suitable level of service and safety for all stakeholders.
· For the General Public, i.e. Nigerians who depend on the mass-transport systems to move around, haul goods and transact other businesses, the safety and security protocols have been defined for each phase of travel i.e. during the pre-trip, in-transit and post-trip stages.
· Pre-trip activities:
o All passengers must arrive at the various parks and stations with (hand gloves and) facemasks on.
o Passengers must ensure a minimum distance of two (2) meters apart from each other and comply with floor markings, dedicated lanes queue ropes and signage to ensure physical distancing.
o Ticketing and payments must be done electronically as the use of cash is not be encouraged to minimise spread
o All passengers must have their temperature checked with contactless thermometers by designated transport workers
o Passenger name and contact data (phone number) will be collected.
o Passengers must wash their hands with soap or use alcohol-based hand sanitisers before proceeding into the vehicles.
o Passengers with luggage must provide their luggage to undergo the necessary disinfection treatment before boarding the vehicle.
· During the trip/in-transit activities:
o Passengers are mandated to wear facemasks to board the vehicle.
o For short distance trips (less than 2 hours) air conditioners will be disabled and windows must remain open for the duration of the trips
o For all long-distance trips (duration of more than 2 hours) air-conditioning shall be switched off and windows opened at least for 10 minutes every hour.
o In cases where the windows are factory sealed, all passengers must use facemask for the entire duration on trip.
o In line with NCDC guidelines, passengers must cover their nose and mouth with their bent elbow or tissue when coughing or sneezing and dispose of tissues properly in the provided waste bins.
o Passengers should use alcohol-based hand sanitisers available on-board when needed.
· Disembarkment /post-trip:
– Passengers must disembark from vehicles in an orderly manner that adheres to social distancing measures.
o Passengers should ensure that all waste materials are disposed in provided waste bins before de-boarding the vehicle.
· Passenger identification and Contact Data – To facilitate identification and contact tracing, passengers shall provide relevant data for identity verification (e.g. passenger name, telephone number, destination, next of kin details etc). A (government-issued) photo identification certificate as validation of name and identity is required.