On 14 June, the BBC and public transport companies, launched the ‘Crossing Divides on the Move Day’ campaign, aimed at sparking commuter conversations.

The day formed part of the BBC Crossing Divides, which aimed to tackle polarisation in society, at a time when loneliness is impacting a huge portion of people’s lives, with research suggesting more than nine million people of all ages in the UK, are either always or often lonely. Bus, train and coach companies were hoping to inspire interaction by rolling out creative ways for people to engage with one another, including the following initiatives:

• Virgin Trains designated all coach Cs on its West Coast services as the “chat coach”
• Arriva distributed “conversation starter” cards on buses across England, and encouraged passengers to “share a smile”
• National Express deployed actors, poets and games to help trigger conversations on its route 11, which connects Birmingham’s most affluent and deprived areas

Greater Anglia and GTR also took part, along with Go Ahead buses and Transport for London

The intention was to spark thousands of conversations and start a national conversation aimed at breaking down social barriers and combating loneliness.To find out more information visit: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-43160365