Altaf wrote in the Seaside News this week to promote public transport as a safe way for older people to get around. Here is the article in full.
AS Older People's Champion at the Senedd, I am worried about new research, which shows that older people are still nervous about using public transport. It appears that elderly people are only making half the number of bus journeys that they did before the pandemic, which raises worries about them, becoming isolated.
The pandemic has made people fearful about using buses and trains because of understandable worries about catching Covid. But there are also risks to people's wellbeing from remaining isolated in their homes and cut off from social contact with friends and families. Research has also shown that for many people, taking a bus ride to the shops in their town is the only social interaction they get, so we must encourage them to get out and onto the buses again.
People got the message from Welsh Government at the start of the pandemic about staying at home to keep safe and to only undertake necessary journeys.. But it's time now for a new message and an awareness campaign from our government in Wales to reassure people that it is safe to use public transport again.