“To avoid risks and put the schools on the buses we need the same drivers and the same students”

The school started only 40 days ago, but it is already time to take stock of local public transport which, despite the Covid-19 pandemic and the consequent recommendations for social distancing, does not seem to be up to the situation. Public transport is crowded and young people are increasingly uncomfortable. Since it also emerges from a recent survey by Skuola.net. where it emerges that the buses, despite the efforts, remain overcrowded. The situation is currently kept at bay by the vaccination campaign. But the risk is that, thanks to a natural drop in immune protection, in the coming months the infections could start again from the bus and metro. But could more be done? It would seem so to hear Francesco Artusa, president of ‘Sistema Trasporti’, one of the first associations in Italy for private transport. “If the government had really wanted to give children a safe service that provided for distancing and tracking, it would have accepted our proposals for dedicated Door to School services”, explains Artusa in an interview with La Stampa. The request, among other things, was also supported by the principals association and would undoubtedly have lightened the burdensome task of local public transport. «With cars, vans and NCC buses, in collaboration with the institutes, we could organize services dedicated to middle and high school students. Same driver, same guys. Plotted, spaced, temperature test, safe », explains Artusa. And it is precisely on the phrase “same driver and same children” that the choice of institutions – in the opinion of the president of ‘Transportation System’ – appears contradictory. This is because if on the one hand the goal is tracking and reducing the risk of infections, the choice to crowd the metro and bus by refusing to use other means of transport seems incomprehensible. Furthermore, using private buses would have freed up more places on public transport, this would also have favored commuters. “But this is precisely the point, as the Anav representative in the Transport Commission denounced, if the Tpl had been made, he would have lost passengers and consequently profit”, continues Artusa. And listening to the words of the president of the association, the words of the approximately 3000 young people listened to by Skuola.net take on even more value. who admitted the difficulties of traveling on the means. In the end, only 6% of the sample maintains that on the means of transport from home to school (and vice versa) the situation is such as to guarantee adequate separation between the various users. “It’s just a question of objectives,” concludes Artusa who is confident in a rethinking of institutions. «We still have time. We continue to fight in the Transport Commission – he adds -. We hope that sooner or later someone will listen to us ».