Petition · past parliament

Enact an Emergency Transport Policy to protect workers and stimulate the economy

Rejected 14 signatures

What the petition asks

Suspend all mass public transport (trains, underground, buses) with full pay to workers.

Reimburse all key workers' taxi fares to and from work on production of a receipt.
The government is risking public health due to their lack of direction on Transport Policy during this pandemic. Key workers are still having to pack onto crowded trains to get to and from work, putting both themselves and transport workers at risk.

It is clear that fully licensed taxis are now the safest form of transport in this emergency. Additionally, almost all taxi drivers are self-employed. No help has been given for the self-employed under Sunak's plans. This plan stimulates that sector

Why it was rejected

It was not clear what the petition asked the UK Government or Parliament to do.

Since you started your petition the Government has announced a support package for self-employed people, so your petition's statement about this is no longer accurate: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/applications-for-self-employment-income-support-scheme-open-early

We have already published a petition calling on the Government to close public transport down for an appropriate amount of time amidst COVID19, which you might like to sign: Close public transport down for an appropriate amount of time amidst COVID19

You could start a new petition calling on the Government to reimburse key workers for travel costs, including taxis, during Covid-19, although we would not accept a petition that claimed this would stimulate the economy, as this cannot be proven.

You can find out more about coronavirus and how you can protect yourself and others here:

www.gov.uk/coronavirus
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/

The Government has also created an online service to help you out what you can do if you’re struggling because of coronavirus: https://www.gov.uk/find-coronavirus-support

You can read NHS tips to help if you are worried about coronavirus here: https://www.nhs.uk/oneyou/every-mind-matters/coronavirus-covid-19-anxiety-tips

You can read impartial analysis of the Government response to coronavirus and policy developments here: https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/coronavirus/

You may also be interested to know that because of the large number of petitions that have been started in relation to coronavirus, the Petitions Committee has been questioning the Government about its response to the coronavirus outbreak.

Find out more and watch the Committee put questions suggested by petitioners to Government Ministers and the Deputy Chief Medical Officer: https://committees.parliament.uk/committee/326/petitions-committee/news/145767/committee-question-deputy-chief-medical-officer-and-ministers-on-coronavirus-response/

Read letters asking further questions of Government Ministers: https://committees.parliament.uk/committee/326/petitions-committee/publications/3/correspondence/

Timeline

25 Mar 2020 Petition opened for signatures
14 May 2020 Rejected by the Petitions Committee

Key facts

Signatures 14
Status Rejected
Rejected 14 May 2020

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Source: the official petition page. Last checked 15 Jul 2026.