ePrivacy and GPDR Cookie Consent by Cookie Consent
Picture of disposable mask

How to tackle anxiety on public transport

As we return to travelling by rail, how can we ease passenger anxiety and regain confidence on public transport?
Blog
July 26, 2021

It’s been a week since all covid-19 restrictions were lifted in England, meaning that many of us have had to welcome the return to the office and embrace the commuter lifestyle once more. But after several months of isolating ourselves, there are naturally higher levels of anxiety and stress surrounding public transport. With 1 in 6 people suffering from anxiety before the pandemic even began, it’s expected that numbers will increase as we throw ourselves back into our old routines of regular socialising, crowded commutes and close contact with others.

With this in mind, it’s obvious that using public transport again is likely an unappealing venture for many. But, as the government encourages us all to return to our jobs, using trains might be unavoidable. And although face masks and social distancing remain mandatory safety procedures for several travel operators, these measures are still not enough to stop the feeling of anxiety or fear as we return to the track.

Plan your journey

The trick to feeling at ease while travelling is to have everything organised ahead of time. But even if you’ve got every detail down, no amount of planning can prepare you for the everyday eventualities that commonly occur on public transport (delays, closures, cancellations, busyness etc.).

That’s why it’s best to have access to something that can predict and update you on these changes in real-time, making your journey as stress-free as possible.

Our personalised journey planner does exactly that – keeping you in the know at every step.  

Yes, we know there are several journey planners out there that do what they say on the tin. But we like to think that we’re far more advanced. Because with us, it’s all about the small details. We offer features such as live routing around delayed services, weather-dependant routes (so you can avoid that unexpected rainstorm), accessibility information, exclusive crowding and busyness data and loyalty rewards. We even include toilet and parking information so that every stage of your journey is covered.

This level of personalisation is important to everyone. But it’s especially important if you feel anxious and stressed before even leaving the house. So, to eradicate your worries and alleviate the feelings of anxiety ahead of your journey, we will always ensure that you get the information you need. No more sifting through hundreds of travel alerts online. No more staring at the departure board in the station waiting for updates. And no more uncertainty about getting to your destination safely or on time. Why? Because we’ve done all the hard work for you.

Know your next move

Something else that often gets overlooked when planning a journey is the final steps. We know your journey doesn't end when your train arrives, your bus stops or your flight lands. We also know that you might be arriving somewhere unfamiliar, or travelling at a different time than usual, so getting to your destination might not be as easy as expected and can leave you feeling anxious or on edge before you’ve even set off.

To combat this, we developed an intelligent 'Last Mile' assistant that checks in with you before you arrive at your designated station and offers real-time assistance to get you where you need to go. But how does this clever little feature work?

Aside from knowing where the closest bus, scooter, bike or taxi is, we’ll also know if you're in a hurry or if the weather is against you. We’ll even let you know how busy these travel options are, because if it’s quicker to walk, that’s what we’ll recommend you do. So, when we say we’re a door-to-door journey planner…we really mean it!

Avoid the rush

A pivotal aspect of public transport that can cause significant stress among anxious travellers is simply being around other people – and the pandemic has heightened these fears even further as hygiene concerns have grown and social distancing has become a habit many of us would like to hold onto.

But crowding and busyness has always been an important part of any journey, whether you’re looking to avoid a hectic commuter train service, or you want to navigate around stressful environments, little things - like making sure you’ve got a seat on your journey or not having to queue to board the train - can be the difference between a chaotic journey and a peaceful one.

Our patent-pending technology, calibrated and proven by the University of Birmingham, means we can tell you just how busy a service or stop will be and offer you alternative, quieter routes.

By keeping you informed at every step of the way, and helping you plan your journey around peak periods, we can help to ease the stress that crowding can cause.

Keep in contact

For the most part, simply having someone at your beck and call while travelling can really take the weight off your shoulders and help you relax, especially in circumstances where things don’t go to plan or a problem occurs.

Even as experts in the industry, we know it's not always clear who you need to speak to if you need help when you're travelling. It might be the train or bus operator, the station manager, the car park company, the local authority... the list goes on.

That's why we offer 24/7 customer service support. We know who runs the stations, buses and the trains - so if you get stuck, we can introduce you to the right person to report a problem or an emergency.

Return of the track

Our goal is to make travel easy, safe and stress-free for every passenger and to react and respond to the individual needs of everyone. Because with us, it’s personal.

As restrictions ease and life returns to some kind of normal, we want passengers to feel assured that their journey will go off without a hitch - and our one-of-a-kind journey planner can make that happen.