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Title: It would be so much easier to run public transport without the public. Post by: grahame on July 05, 2020, 07:40:06 Someone has posted no fewer than 92 "problems us [bus] drivers have" posted on "First Bus Bristol - have your say" at https://www.facebook.com/groups/732606980140495/permalink/3131928843541618/ . Sorry, but I had to follow up with "it would be so much easier without customers"
Quoting just one in five of the issues in critical review ... Quote 1. Signalling a bus to stop then waving it away once realisation it isnt the one you want! 6. People who run into the road infront of the bus to make sure the driver can see they want it! 11. People who take forever to get on, making every step look like an olympic event! 16. People who get on with £20 note at bloody 6am... So you need the change do you?? Haven't got anything smaller?? 5, 10, 15, 20, 25.... oh, you got the right money now!?! Amazing! Lol! 21. Buggies and the teenage mums who cant control them or refuse to fold them! 26. People who have loud/rude/personal phone calls... I dont care how many blowjobs you gave him! 31. Pensioners who cant stand up in the street, nevermind a moving bus, yet still want to be up before it stops... 36. Parents who let their kids play with the bell, but then dont say f**k all and we stop anyway... 41. People who hold the bus up so they can finish their converstation as they get off... Grrr! 46. Free passes and the waste of paper that they are... 51. Cars who park in bus stops or use bus lanes as phonebooths... BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP! 56. Those who cry about waiting an hour when the bus stop was empty 10 minutes ago... I passed it going the other way! 61. People who are adiment they paid 85p last time they got on this bus, even though the bus was a different colour... Head + Window... BANG. 66. Pensioners who complain its too hot, but close all the windows... Woah? What? 71. Kids who dont ask for half, but expect you to know they want half... tough s**t. Ask next time. 76. People who take the piss with the hail and ride system and insist to make you stop every 50 yards... 81. People who signal a bus whilst facing the other way... not clear enough, bye! 86. People who think that a diversion means the bus actually becomes a bloody taxi!! 91. People using the bus as a rail replacement service hopeing the driver will use bus stops between the rail stations... Rail Replacement! Would the train stop where you want it to?? Well then, why should I?? Unless there a twenty involved! Lol! If you really feel that way, should you really be a bus driver? If some of these things are real and common issues, wouldn't it be in the bus operator's best interests to help the customers - without whom there would be no need for a bus Title: Re: It would be so much easier to run public transport without the public. Post by: old original on July 05, 2020, 09:25:09 Having read the whole list, I agree that there are quite a few genuine gripes but I reckon over half are the opinion of someone who doesn't like their job and/or doesn't want to do the job they chose and get paid to do. I would suggest they get a different job, preferably not in customer service.
Title: Re: It would be so much easier to run public transport without the public. Post by: GBM on July 05, 2020, 10:53:04 As a driver I recognise all of those cries, and we hear most, if not all in the crib room.
It's a way of releasing tension. Unless you do the job, it's not as easy as it looks! "What, you sit down & steer? Anyone could do that" Not really anyone, as witness to those who leave very early on in their career. Generally bank on a good 30% to 40% of new joiners won't last more than a year. Title: Re: It would be so much easier to run public transport without the public. Post by: Robin Summerhill on July 05, 2020, 11:40:38 As a bus passenger who perhaps understands a little more about the logistics of running a public transport system that the average passenger, I can empathise with a lot of those comments. There are a few, however, that could be seen as a little unjustified depending on circumstances.
Item 1 in particular. Whereas they may be people around who put their hand out just for the sheer hell of it (like there are kids who press pedestrian crossing buttons as they’re passing by which used to irritate the hell out of me), there are also people like me with defective eyesight who cannot perhaps see the destination blind from a distance. Faresaver, my local operator, runs a lot of Optare Solos and, when one comes around the corner towards the Chippenham Town Bridge stop at about the time I am expecting mine to turn up, I have to peer through my cataract-induced fog to see the service number. I’ve only got it wrong once so far, but that is more by luck than judgement. As a casual observer, I also get irritated by cars parked in bus lanes, especially when taking into account the fact that emergency services also use them. Of course, when challenged the usual limp excuse is “I was only two minutes” to which the less-than-limp answer is “so the bloke having a heart attack can wait two minutes whilst you buy a packet of fags can he?” I have been witness to item 41 more times than I care to remember. A bus is running to a timetable, with other services to operate after this one. When the bus stops at your stop, get off so that the bus can proceed. Perhaps a driver could say “if your conversation is that important, would you like to stay on for two or three stops and walk back?” But then again, I suppose they were only two minutes... Title: Re: It would be so much easier to run public transport without the public. Post by: infoman on July 05, 2020, 11:45:56 Maybe we(us) who use the bus should put in our grips.
I'll start I don't have enough or any change Sudden application of the brakes shutting doors just as you have arrived and won't open them again not checking if the bus has any rubbish left on the bus when it terminates at journies end. No line managers checking to see if bus drivers are doing their job correctly Title: Re: It would be so much easier to run public transport without the public. Post by: eightf48544 on July 05, 2020, 14:17:11 It would be so much easier to run public transport without the public.
This was being said on BR about trains in the sixties Passenger trains of course, Freight was good wagons don't answer back, although even they got there own back with a series of derailments of short wheelbase wagons on plain track. Title: Re: It would be so much easier to run public transport without the public. Post by: GBM on July 05, 2020, 14:36:12 Maybe we(us) who use the bus should put in our grips. I'll start I don't have enough or any change Most drivers float will be between £5 &£10. Two £20's first thing in the morning will clean you out. A run between Penzance or St Ives and Truro first thing in the morning a driver will have many £20's presented. Sudden application of the brakes There are several busses on the road where the retarder kicks in suddenly, jerking each time the pedal is pressed. Nothing you can do about it (other than reporting it EACH time). shutting doors just as you have arrived and won't open them again Not sure on this comment. You arrive late as the bus is pulling away perhaps. Doors close, driver is now checking all mirrors, with heavy look to the offside mirror for pulling out into traffic, so passengers highly likely not to be noticed. not checking if the bus has any rubbish left on the bus when it terminates at journies end. Should do, but time constraints come into play, especially when you can be an hour late back at the terminus, but were due out 50 minutes ago on another run in another bus! No line managers checking to see if bus drivers are doing their job correctly Supervisors at each depot keep an eye on things. Ticket inspectors check tickets but also check driver has correct documentation/clothing/timing, etc Title: Re: It would be so much easier to run public transport without the public. Post by: bobm on July 05, 2020, 14:51:26 Two that used to grate with me were...
At times of gridlock "Where have you been driver?" (Sitting around the corner for 15 minutes ;D ) "Can you tell me when we get to so and so please?" They then sit as far away from the cab as they can. Title: Re: It would be so much easier to run public transport without the public. Post by: GBM on July 05, 2020, 15:06:23 "Another service hasn't turned up, where is it please?"
Don't ask me I've been struggling to keep time on my own run. I have no idea where any other service is/was! No, of course we don't say that. Frequently asked question that said. Most drivers try and be helpful and courteous. Even delaying their own running to dig out a timetable to look for connecting runs for visitors who have no idea/are lost, etc. Very few drivers keep the same run day in/day out. Every day and week totally different, so not able to remember all the times of all the runs. Title: Re: It would be so much easier to run public transport without the public. Post by: grahame on July 05, 2020, 15:51:12 There are some people who should not be driving buses, and there are some passengers who should not be riding on them! ;D
The original list was said to have been written in humour when the originator came back to his pst a few hours later, but the humour was very hard indeed to see. I have a huge admiration for bus drivers who deal with the public each and every day, and who see so many behaviours that at best are uninformed, or are thoughtless. It is, indeed, far more than just driving a bus. The majority [of bus drivers] that I see are good humoured, understanding and a credit to themselves, their company, their profession. A tiny proportion fail on these qualities and make a bad name for so many. With the list of 92 (not ending in 1. or 6., so didn't make my cut): Quote 55. IGNORNANT F**KERS WHO DONT SMILE, TALK OR THANK THE DRIVER! WE REMEMBER YOU ALL!!! And I find myself thinking "I'll bet if YOU smiled at the customers, gave them a cheery "good morning" as they got on, most of them would smile back. You reap what you sew". But of course if there are 91 things that customers do wrong and you (as driver) are on the lookout for them all ... yes, you'll come across as not being very approachable ...Now - drivers choose to be bus drivers. Many passengers have little choice, and next to no training on "how to be a good bus passenger", so this is going to be a bit unbalanced. But there are lessons to be learned from our driver's gripe list which drivers, or their bosses, or people who design routes and set up stops, can learn from to help the passengers help themselves. And from that perspective, what a useful list this is. Title: Re: It would be so much easier to run public transport without the public. Post by: CyclingSid on July 06, 2020, 07:02:19 A lot of public service, and some private enterprise (who don't survive), have elements of it would run better without passengers/patients/customers. But we should remember who is paying the persons wages. Try asking a friendly bus driver at the current time, they do exist you just have to treat them as fellow human beings, have they collected enough today to pay their wages? Some will tell you they probably didn't the whole of last week.
I might have said before, I will tend to wait behind a bus in a bus/bike lane while the passenger boards. The time it takes I sometimes think the passenger is trying to buy the bus (company) rather than just a ticket. I would admit that I am best not in a patient-facing role. My monitor used to have a Mr Grumpy sticker facing the door! Title: Re: It would be so much easier to run public transport without the public. Post by: Ralph Ayres on July 06, 2020, 15:58:36 1. Done that myself. What can you expect if the backlight for the blind isn't working so the number is almost unreadable until it gets really close?
6. Done that myself. Result of bitter experience at a couple of stops where drivers on a particular route rarely pick up anyone, assume no-one will get on and don't bother looking for anyone sticking a hand out. Not guilty of the rest. Title: Re: It would be so much easier to run public transport without the public. Post by: LiskeardRich on July 06, 2020, 20:51:38 I can tell you the main reason for delays to my bus is passengers.
Rummaging around in their bag or wallet for concession passes is the biggest offender Title: Re: It would be so much easier to run public transport without the public. Post by: grahame on July 06, 2020, 21:50:44 I can tell you the main reason for delays to my bus is passengers. Rummaging around in their bag or wallet for concession passes is the biggest offender Perhaps a Luxemberg style fare system would help speed up the buses ... https://www.vdl.lu/en/getting-around/bus/free-public-transport-and-exceptions Title: Re: It would be so much easier to run public transport without the public. Post by: Robin Summerhill on July 07, 2020, 00:12:46 Perhaps a Luxemberg style fare system would help speed up the buses ... With apologies to William S Gilbert... As some day it may happen that I’ll be delayed by clowns I’ve got a little list, I’ve got a little list Of the frequent re-offenders who are found in my home town The buggers can’t be missed; I wish they could be missed There’s the blighters who don’t get off when they’ve rung the bell to stop And idiots who seem surprised to have to pay for their monthly shop And those who ask daft question when the ticket office has a queue Like will the train be on time next Wednesday when my mother goes to Crewe And the people who bang on about that no buffet exists I’ve got em on the list, I’ve got em on the list I’ve got a little list, I’ve got s little list And they'll none of 'em be missed — they'll none of 'em be missed There’s those that always rummage for the bus pass or the fare And the fare evasionist – I’ve got him on the list Or the drivers when you say hello pretends you’re just not there They never would be missed, they never would be missed And the idiot who praises in enthusiastic tone All bus companies but this on every route except his own And the old dear from the Care Home who takes an hour to get on And longer to get off because her friend talks on and on But it really doesn’t matter who I put upon my list ‘cos they’d none of em be missed, not one of them be missed This page is printed from the "Coffee Shop" forum at http://gwr.passenger.chat which is provided by a customer of Great Western Railway. Views expressed are those of the individual posters concerned. Visit www.gwr.com for the official Great Western Railway website. Please contact the administrators of this site if you feel that content provided contravenes our posting rules ( see http://railcustomer.info/1761 ). The forum is hosted by Well House Consultants - http://www.wellho.net |