Swindon to Royal Wootton Bassett bus services

[whole diary]

[grahame]

Swindon bus station yesterday - advertising for the "new" services even though they're already being cut right back ...

[Chris from Nailsea]

Is that the driver? 

[grahame]

Is that the driver? 

No - driver was sitting in cab.

I'm not sure if it's a problem peculiarly local to my home town, but around a number of buses here have 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 minute pauses in the town centre, and many bus companies have drivers who like an intermediate smoke.   Boarding or waiting for a bus often brings with it the smell of current or very recent tobacco smoke, and I suspect that within the smell are some chemicals that really aren't good for the passenger's health.  It's the driver's choice to smoke, but (s)he shouldn't really be imposing passive smoking on bus passengers now that the risks are known.

[ChrisB]

Unless they are still smoking in the cab, there won't be any passive smoking as the driver will have already inhaled the dangerous substances, and doesn't exhale them (according to a study I read a while back)

Pretty foul smell, I agree - unpleasant but no danger. But there again, passengers can emit pretty unpleasant smells too (including those who just put out a fag before boarding). Similar on the trains too, in the morning - ok, no smoking on the station, but some still emit the smell for minutes afterwards

[GBM]

No - driver was sitting in cab.

I'm not sure if it's a problem peculiarly local to my home town, but around a number of buses here have 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 minute pauses in the town centre, and many bus companies have drivers who like an intermediate smoke.   Boarding or waiting for a bus often brings with it the smell of current or very recent tobacco smoke, and I suspect that within the smell are some chemicals that really aren't good for the passenger's health.  It's the driver's choice to smoke, but (s)he shouldn't really be imposing passive smoking on bus passengers now that the risks are known.

As a driver, you see a passenger standing at the stop and slow down to pick them up.  They draw heavily on the cigarette as it's a long trip without a smoke (max two hours, mostly less than 30 minutes!). They step on and when asking for the ticket expel that horrid smell over the driver.,  The smell lasts for at least 5 minutes.  As a non smoker, I dislike that being imposed on me

Edit to fix quoting

[ChrisB]

Quite.