County council chiefs say hundreds of extra bus seats are being put in place ahead of schools returning next month.
It comes after parents were told bus companies were being asked to lay on additional services to allow students and commuters to travel separately.
Cllr Jonathan Price, Staffordshire County Council’s cabinet member for education, said an additional 1,160 temporary seats were being made available on busy routes where social distancing restrictions mean services couldn’t carry all potential passengers.
“Getting pupils back to school when term begins is a priority and we’re doing all we can to support them.
“There is a limited number of spare buses and drivers available at peak time so we’ve looked at the busiest public routes where there simply wouldn’t be enough space for pupils and commuters under current limitations and have temporarily duplicated 29 routes to create an additional 1,160 places.
“As well as ensuring the council is meeting its legal duty to ensure children entitled to free transport can get to school, this will help some pupils not entitled to free transport and also free up the busiest commercial routes for commuters.”
Cllr Jonathan Price, Staffordshire County Council
In some cases duplicate services are being provided with pupils asked to only board the additional bus and take seats as far back as possible.
Full details of additional buses on some routs are available on the Staffordshire County Council website.
“All parents were sent a letter via schools before the end of summer term, outlining the need for those not entitled to free travel to plan ahead for the autumn.
“Parents understand it’s their responsibility to get their children to school and we’re working with them to help where we can.
“Schools and transport operators have been determined to make this work and I thank them for helping us do all we can in a difficult situation.”
Cllr Jonathan Price