“If you can avoid it, it’s better not to sit during the trip”: bus driver warns about these seats [vídeo]

Sitting on bus and subway benches is an automatic gesture for millions of passengers, but, according to the Spanish newspaper, there are reports attributed to professionals in the public transport sector who are issuing an alert mainly for hygiene reasons. According to the same publication, workers linked to this universe admit that, whenever possible, it may be preferable to avoid sitting during the trip, especially in older vehicles with upholstered seats.

The concern is not just related to unusual episodes, thefts or other unusual situations that drivers and employees say they observe in their daily lives through monitoring cameras. According to reports cited by the Spanish newspaper, there is also a growing concern with the condition of the textile coverings used, as these materials accumulate dirt easily and are not always subjected to regular deep cleaning.

Benches can look clean without being clean.

According to the same description, a driver in a major European capital reportedly mentioned that upholstered seats are only thoroughly washed a few times a year. The daily maintenance carried out in garages, according to this statement, will be mainly superficial, based on quick cleaning with cloths and sanitizers.

In practice, this type of intervention can improve the visible appearance of the carriage or bus, but it hardly eliminates the dirt absorbed by the fabrics over days and weeks of intense use. It is precisely this difference between the external appearance and the effective cleaning of banks that is fueling the warning left by professionals in the sector.

The upholstery pattern helps hide the problem

One of the explanations given in the original article for the fact that many passengers do not notice the real condition of the seats is the design of the upholstery itself. According to the same article, transport companies often opt for dense visual patterns, with strong colors and complex graphic compositions, precisely because this type of finish helps to disguise stains, signs of use and signs of wear.

In practice, this visual effect creates a perception of cleanliness that does not always correspond to the actual condition of the surface. The bench may appear reasonably clean at first glance, but continue to concentrate residue, moisture, bacteria and other impurities that have accumulated over time. It is precisely this discrepancy between the external appearance and the actual condition of the material that is fueling the discussion on social media, where videos and testimonials about dirt found on public transport appear with some regularity.

A change that is already beginning to be noticed

The text highlights, however, that this problem is mainly associated with seats with textile coverings. In several public transport networks, this type of material has been losing space in recent years, giving way to solutions such as rigid plastic, fiberglass or other less porous and easier to maintain coatings.

These materials have the advantage of not absorbing dirt in the same way and allowing for simpler and more effective cleaning at the end of each day. Still, the warning continues to make sense for those using older vehicles or networks where upholstered seats remain in circulation, as in these cases the difference between the visible appearance and the actual cleanliness of the seats may be more difficult to detect.

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