Sky Bus Tokyo saw many passengers on their open-air double-decker bus tours Saturday, the beginning of the first weekend since the lifting of the government's ban on travel across prefectural borders.
After taking appropriate infection prevention measures, the bus service had just resumed operations Friday after a temporary suspension of business from March 28 due to the coronavirus outbreak. Passengers enjoyed the feeling of the cool breezes and the scenery of different districts of Japan's capital city, including Ginza and Tsukiji, where crowds are once again beginning to bustle.
"A seat between passengers is left unoccupied as a coronavirus infection prevention measure," A 22-year-old female attendant told passengers through her mask while speaking into a microphone on the bus's second floor.
She announced all of the sights to see along the tour traveling around the Tokyo Tower, the Rainbow Bridge, the Imperial Palace and the districts of Ginza and Marunouchi.
"The open-air bus allowed us to avoid the 'Three Cs' and we got to enjoy popular Tokyo sights we don't usually see. My children enjoyed taking pictures and looking for sports cars along the highway," said a 35-year-old female nurse from Koto Ward, Tokyo, who boarded with her three family members including her 6-year-old daughter and 4-year-old son.
The service's operating company, Tokyo-based Hinomaru Jidousya Kougyo Co., has reduced the usual capacity of 46 passengers to half in order to maintain distance between passengers. Prior to boarding, passengers are urged to undergo a temperature check and disinfect their hands with alcohol while crew members disinfect handrails and seats with alcohol during passenger changeover. The company also installed acrylic barriers at the ticket counters to prevent the droplet infection and tests the temperature of its employees thoroughly.
It will reopen a portion of a course of its amphibious bus tour service Sky Duck from June 26.
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