Good news for the sector is that there will be no adjustment in the occupancy rate within taxi transport. The 1,5-meter measure that was formulated as urgent advice is now the rule again. For carriers, this is particularly important at business locations. The safe distance standard does not apply to persons in public transport, other commercial passenger transport and persons in transport for private purposes, provided the transport primarily involves moving from one location to another and is not recreational transport. The safe distance standard does not apply to persons at a station, staging point, or other facility associated with public transport or other commercial passenger transport and the associated platforms, stairs, tunnels and lifts, with the exception of the enclosed places located there, insofar as the safe distance cannot be observed.

In taxi transport, the driver wears a surgical mask and the traveler(s) a non-medical mask, or a physical barrier may be installed between the driver and the passenger. For some of the people it will not be possible to wear a mouth-nose mask. These travelers can travel with the vehicle without further adjustments to the occupancy rate. Children in the primary education age group are not required to wear a non-medical mouth cap and there is no cap on the number of travelers per vehicle. All seats may be used.

wearing a mouth mask

The biggest change is therefore in the protocol for student transport < 17 years. This included that all students of special (primary) education wear a non-medical mouth cap in transport. The measures taken within the protocols working group, in which FNV and CNV are also involved in addition to a number of KNV members, therefore go further than indicated by the ministries. They do this deliberately and in consultation with, among others, the trade unions, because they believe that this is the best way to serve safety. It also contributes to reducing the risk of (further) driver failure due to infections. In addition, it is practical, and possibly also for privacy reasons, difficult for carriers and drivers to determine exactly in which group a particular student is. Since this measure may require some preparation time from carriers, clients and parents of children, this adjustment will take effect on Monday 6 December or as soon as possible.

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The taxi transport protocol was drawn up by Royal Dutch Transport (KNV), the national association for entrepreneurs active in healthcare and taxi transport, together with the trade unions FNV and CNV Vakmensen. Within the framework of government policy and advice from RIVM for the fight against the corona virus, taxi operators and their employees want to use this to carry out taxi transport as responsibly as possible.

snot bubble policy

Furthermore, the 'snotte bubble policy' has been adjusted in accordance with the guidelines of the RIVM, which in short means that 4-12 year olds may no longer be transported in the event of mild cold complaints.

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face masks for drivers
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