High level of safety for drivers and passengers: Setra is aiding bus companies during the COVID-19 pandemic with protective doors for drivers, active filters for air-conditioning systems and other practical accessories.

Setra stands for safety, and this is especially visible during the pandemic. Drivers and passengers should be able to continue enjoying travels on-board our buses. After all, they're on the road in vehicles which deliver top-level safety – and that also applies to protection against infection.

Public transport drivers are in extremely close contact with passengers. That's why Setra has developed protective doors for drivers of the particularly popular MultiClass LE business inter-city buses. Full-length, transparent partitions in high-quality plastic polycarbonate,and, depending on the equipment variant, also in real glass, protect drivers against droplet infection and replace improvised solutions. In installing such doors, it will again be possible for passengers to enter the vehicle using door 1 and for drivers to check tickets. The protective equipment can be extended by separating discs behind the driver.

The protective doors for drivers are available in both a closed variant and a partially open variant for ticket sales. They are available either ex factory for new vehicles or as a retrofit solution as part of the usual product offering.

Drivers of Setra touring coaches should benefit from the same protection as their colleagues driving inter-city buses. The polycarbonate safety doors can be ordered for new vehicles and are available as a retrofit. In addition, we also offer separating screens behind the driver.

Passengers may have concerns about spending time in an enclosed space and thus about the associated risk of infection. But Setra also has a solution for the climate control on-board. Regular-service buses enjoy an additional supply of fresh air thanks to the regular stops at bus stops. When the doors are open, the interior will be automatically cleansed with fresh air. If installed, additional ventilation openings such as hinged windows or roof hatches enable higher rates of fresh air flow to be achieved. If, however, ex factory roof-mounted climate control systems are activated, hinged windows and roof hatches should be closed to ensure that regulating errors are avoided.

On Setra ComfortClass 500 and TopClass 500 touring coaches, the technology of the standard fully-automatic climate control system effectively handles the supply of fresh air. The air is continuously changed. At common outside temperatures (for TC and DT between 8 and 24 degrees Celsius), the climate control system uses the maximum level of fresh air, and there is therefore a continual and complete change of the air inside the vehicle every one to two minutes. Both at low and high temperatures, climate control systems work in mixed-air mode. Here, the renewal of fresh air in the interior occurs every three to four minutes. By way of comparison: in living spaces, a renewal of air is only prescribed at the very least every two hours, and in offices that figure is only every hour at the least.

Setra is now adding more: On request, the maximum fresh air operation even by a third - by extending the range in which we operate maximum fresh air is additionally extended upwards and downwards. The expansion is also possible for the Aquasphere systems on request. For coach companies, this additional supply of fresh air through the climate control system  represents an attractive possibility of reducing the risk of infection for drivers and passengers, even if it does result in a moderately detrimental effect on temperature comfort and fuel consumption. For non-binding information on this topic, Setra customers can contact their personal sales advisor.

Today already, filter systems in the climate control systems of buses from Setra remove particles from the air. New active filters with antiviral function increase this effect even further: the multi-layer, progressively designed high-performance particle filter filter the finest aerosols and have additionally feature an anti-viral functional layer.  Physical tests and microbiological analyses confirm this effect. The active filters are used for the roof-mounted climate control systems, for the air-recirculation filter and also for the front climate control box. Vehicles equipped with an active filter are also fitted with a sticker in the entrance area which is visible to passengers. For further information, please contact your sales representative.

Especially in modes of transport in which lots of people come together, pathogens can quickly propagate. Regular hand hygiene is thus especially important. The most hygienic solution for a bus is a sensor-controlled disinfectant dispenser. This contact-free variant prevents hands coming into contact with the device. Thus, microbe transmission can be ruled out.