Its like a broken record with some of these bus drivers

[Sparky]

I remember a while ago, a woman bus driver came at 7:13 am and got me there ON TIME, however, its always the men bus drivers who pull this crap.



I definitely understand that. Some bus drivers will just stop the bus right in front of a store or something just to get something to eat. I understand they are hungry but just like the rest of us, wait UNTIL its your lunch hour! Its like me just closing down my sign and basically eating right front of customers when its not even my lunch hour.

One time a bus driver was 9 minutes late and you know he does? He shuts down the bus and goes wherever. I was damn late for work. You know, I don't understand why these bus drivers don't give a shit that WE HAVE JOBS TOO AND THAT WE NEED TO GET THERE! Its different if the traffic is horrible or that the bus dies but sometimes they are late for the lamest reasons!

Have any of you ever driven a city bus? I did. For over 18 years.

First of all, "Wait until it's your lunch hour"? HAH! In most cities, bus drivers don't get lunch breaks. Your so-called "lunch hour" is your layover time. That's the time that's built in to the end of your route for you to catch up in case you're late. That means if your bus is on time, you get 10 minutes. If it's 5 mintues late, you get 5 minutes. If it's 15 minutes late, you get 0 minutes. Enjoy. If it snows, forget getting a break all day. Oh yeah, those layovers are your bathroom breaks as well. If you're really lucky, you'll lay over somewhere where there is a bathroom.

The bus driver shut down the bus and went "wherever"? And you don't think he gives a shit? He was probably taking one. May well have been sick. Gotta keep driving, though.

Have you people never heard of traffic? Maybe things are different where you are, but in my town buses ran on a "pulse" system. This means, that the routes were designed to put almost all of them at the downtown bus stop at the same time, so that passengers could transfer. Some routes intersected in other places though, and if we had a passenger who wanted to transfer, and if we were running only a few minutes late, we were expected to radio the other bus and ask them to wait for us. This could explain why your bus is late every time a "certain woman" rides. The pulse system is designed so that there's a bus at the same place at the same time every hour. That is, the bus will come by your stop every 10 minutes, or every 30 minutes. That means that the bus is supposed to be traveling at exactly the same speed all day, no matter how many people are riding, how heavy the traffic is, or what the road conditions are. In case you haven't noticed, this is impossible. So being a bit behind schedule was not considered a problem. Being ahead of schedule even a little bit is a huge problem. Better to be 20 minutes late than 2 minutes early. If a bus is consistently no more than 7 minutes late, it's doing darn good! But if it's running early, the driver is actually expected to pull over and stop somewhere and let the clock catch up. Do you have any idea how it feels to have to sit there while a bunch of bored and annoyed passengers are staring at you? Fun.

If the schedule is such that you'll be late to work if the bus is a little late, you need to catch an earlier bus. Sorry.

Oh yeah, Killer Bees said:
For a two week period, the two routes I catch were ALWAYS late. Every.Single.Day. Every.Single.Bus. I don't know wtf was going on, but it was impossible to time the change so I didn't have to wait forever between buses. So either no bus showed up on time, or the two buses were late and showed one after another. So the first bus was always packed and the other one was empty.

This means that something was happening to delay the buses. Every. Single. Day. Every. Single. Bus. My guess would be construction somewhere along the route. And the construction might not even have been on the bus route. It might have been that a main street was closed, so all the traffic from that street was detoured onto the bus route, increasing the traffic on the route. Or a street might have been reduced to one-way traffic, and a flagman was letting long strings of cars through. You might think they'd give preferance to buses. You'd be wrong.

And you know what else? If you don't understand what's going on, ask. Because the driver's probably already explained it 100 times a day and probably assumes you've read about the detour in the paper, so he's not going to bother to announce it to every person as they get on.

[tollbaby]

Thank you for the insight Sparky... I took the bus for 29 years, but never drove one. I used to sit at the front and chat with the drivers who liked to chat (at least until someone who needed the seat more would come on the bus), so I have a bit more knowledge about a bus driver's life than most people, but not too much more (they're very careful not to complain about the company, conditions, etc.).

[MoonChild2007]

Thank you for your insight Sparky but no offense but that's NOT my problem. Also, no need to be rude to me. I am saying what probably other passengers feel when the bus is late. Yes, i HAVE heard of traffic, no need to so rude about it. Also, I have every right to my frustrations, that's what this board is about.

Do you have any idea how it feels to have to sit there while a bunch of bored and annoyed passengers are staring at you? Fun.

And do you have any idea how it feels to have the bus stop when you have somewhere to go? Or that the next bus will leave by the time the bus gets there? How about looking at it from OUR POV?

If the schedule is such that you'll be late to work if the bus is a little late, you need to catch an earlier bus. Sorry.

And what if the earliest bus is the FIRST bus run? On Saturdays, the first bus gets to my bus stop by 7:18 pm and my other bus that i take leaves at 7:30 pm. So, again, is that MY fault? No its not.

Anyways, "the woman" wasn't on the bus today and get this, the bus was ON time. I am very paranoid but I can't help it!

Might I also add that WE the passengers are PAYING to ride this bus? Not you, bus drivers. We don't pay the bus company just to make us late for work. Its like paying 2000 for a limo ride and if the limo is late, doesn't even show up, WE the passengers have every right to compain.

[dizzy_starshine]

Reading this my first thought was is this lady his partner? or a mistress? is he stopping somewhere to take advantage of the buses back seat where his wife won't see?

This happened on our bus into town. The drivers girlfriend came along for a 'ride' where his wife couldn't catch them. It was in the local paper when he got caught by his boss.

[Broomjockey]

If a bus is consistently no more than 7 minutes late, it's doing darn good! But if it's running early, the driver is actually expected to pull over and stop somewhere and let the clock catch up. Do you have any idea how it feels to have to sit there while a bunch of bored and annoyed passengers are staring at you?

An interesting glimpse into the life of bus drivers. However, I have to ask, as you didn't cover it, why could 3 or 4 drivers manage to make the route perfectly every single time, but this poor soul was complaining to a fellow driver that he couldn't understand how dispatch thought they could make the trip in that amount of time (and that time was the difference between making my connection, and not)?

[Seshat]

If the schedule is such that you'll be late to work if the bus is a little late, you need to catch an earlier bus. Sorry.

The bus and train timetables we had where I grew up specifically stated that the bus or train was scheduled to leave the source station/stop at X time, leave certain specific intermediate stops at Y time, and arrive at the destination by Z time.

All other times were estimates, dependent on traffic, passenger load, and road/rail conditions. Some of the longer routes had multiple intermediate stops, shorter routes may have none. And while trains would wait at a station if they got there early, buses might arrive at a stop early and just drive past if there was noone there - they only waited for the clock at the specified stops.

Also, buses in particular are prone to being delayed by heavy traffic: if I was travelling in peak hour I'd always catch the bus before the one timetabled to arrive in time, unless I'd travelled that route in peak hour before.

I've always treated public transport that way. You've got to allow for the fact that buses share common roads with the rest of us, trams/light rail may share common roads, and while trains have roads to themselves, they're still affected by passenger load and weather.

Read what the timetable does and doesn't promise - determine whether the arrival time at your destination is supposed to be 'arrives no later than' or 'may arrive as early as', and what leeway is deemed acceptable. Plan your trip accordingly.

I guess it never occurred to me that all this wasn't commonly understood.

[Seshat]

However, I have to ask, as you didn't cover it, why could 3 or 4 drivers manage to make the route perfectly every single time, but this poor soul was complaining to a fellow driver that he couldn't understand how dispatch thought they could make the trip in that amount of time?

Pick one:
1. There were changed road/weather conditions that affected the poor soul but not the other three or four drivers.
2. The route was calculated incorrectly, and the other drivers are driving unsafely to meet the timetable.
3. The 'poor soul' is incompetent at his job.

The third is the most likely.

[ds_36]

An interesting glimpse into the life of bus drivers. However, I have to ask, as you didn't cover it, why could 3 or 4 drivers manage to make the route perfectly every single time, but this poor soul was complaining to a fellow driver that he couldn't understand how dispatch thought they could make the trip in that amount of time (and that time was the difference between making my connection, and not)?

Without knowing the details it's hard to comment, but is it possible that since he was newer to that route he wasn't yet aware of certain "tricks" to that leg which other more experienced drivers did know?

[Broomjockey]

Without knowing the details it's hard to comment, but is it possible that since he was newer to that route he wasn't yet aware of certain "tricks" to that leg which other more experienced drivers did know?

hmm... From the looks of him, and the rest of his chat with the driver riding with him, I'm going to have to go with Seshat's #3. Hell, the other drivers all looked newer than him, and he'd been driving it for a couple weeks, so you'd think that he'd have figured out any tricks. And it wasn't the time of day, because the bus before and after both managed to make it on time. And I certainly never felt unsafe with those other drivers either. If anything that was the unsafe guy.

[Sparky]

Thank you for your insight Sparky but no offense but that's NOT my problem. Also, no need to be rude to me. I am saying what probably other passengers feel when the bus is late. Yes, i HAVE heard of traffic, no need to so rude about it. Also, I have every right to my frustrations, that's what this board is about.

Sorry if I sounded rude. I really didn't intend to. And you certainly have every right to express your frustrations.

I was expressing mine. And not all of my remarks were directed at you. Some were in response to what felt like the whole "driver bashing" tone of this thread.

And do you have any idea how it feels to have the bus stop when you have somewhere to go? Or that the next bus will leave by the time the bus gets there? How about looking at it from OUR POV?

Of course I know how that feels. Believe me, if I didn't know before I'd know after all those old ladies, smartass punk kids, and stinking drunks told me.

And what if the earliest bus is the FIRST bus run? On Saturdays, the first bus gets to my bus stop by 7:18 pm and my other bus that i take leaves at 7:30 pm. So, again, is that MY fault? No its not.

No it is not your fault. It may not be the driver's fault either. That's all I'm saying.

To be honest, it probably is this driver's fault, since this seems to happen consistently with him and not with anyone else. Have you called the bus company to complain or to ask about it?

Anyways, "the woman" wasn't on the bus today and get this, the bus was ON time. I am very paranoid but I can't help it!

Might I also add that WE the passengers are PAYING to ride this bus? Not you, bus drivers. We don't pay the bus company just to make us late for work. Its like paying 2000 for a limo ride and if the limo is late, doesn't even show up, WE the passengers have every right to compain.

Wow. That sounds just like "I'm the customer, and I pay your salary, so I'm always right." I thought I'd read here that that statement wasn't true.

I mean, come ON! Yeah, you have a right to complain about poor service. And yes, it sucks that the schedule doesn't always get you to work on time. IF it's a particular driver's fault, that driver ought to be disciplined. But your problem is that the schedule isn't well-designed for your particular needs. Sorry that happens, but mass-transit companies are not taxi companies, and can't cater to the needs of every individual. You could take a taxi. You could buy a car. You could change your work schedule. Of course, I understand that all these things are easier said than done. Cabs are expensive, cars are more expensive, and bosses are not accomodating. None of this is your fault. But it's not your bus driver's fault either.

[Sparky]

An interesting glimpse into the life of bus drivers. However, I have to ask, as you didn't cover it, why could 3 or 4 drivers manage to make the route perfectly every single time, but this poor soul was complaining to a fellow driver that he couldn't understand how dispatch thought they could make the trip in that amount of time (and that time was the difference between making my connection, and not)?

Pick one:
1. There were changed road/weather conditions that affected the poor soul but not the other three or four drivers.
2. The route was calculated incorrectly, and the other drivers are driving unsafely to meet the timetable.
3. The 'poor soul' is incompetent at his job.

The third is the most likely.

I'd say that if this happens to the same trip every day -- that is, if all the buses on Route 3 are on time except for the 4:20 bus -- the answer is #1. If it happens to the same driver on all his runs every, day I agree with Seshat.

[iradney]

I'm sorry, but isn't the whole point of a schedule is that it lets people know when busses are coming or going?
So isn't it then the job of the bus driver to try and make it as close to the time scheduled as possible? Sure, you're not gonna get it right every single time (who does?) but if it's constant, then a complaint must be laid.

Everyone's jobs can be hindered by outside factors, not just those of bus drivers. The graphic designer can be delayed by the printer running out of colour toner, the fast food employee is delayed by the chip machine going on the blitz. But if the graphic designer and fast food employee under-deliver every time, even when the print shop has a back room FULL of colour toner, and the chip machine is churning out chips like there's no tomorrow...then the problem is obviously with the employee.

[ds_36]

hmm... From the looks of him, and the rest of his chat with the driver riding with him, I'm going to have to go with Seshat's #3. Hell, the other drivers all looked newer than him, and he'd been driving it for a couple weeks, so you'd think that he'd have figured out any tricks. And it wasn't the time of day, because the bus before and after both managed to make it on time. And I certainly never felt unsafe with those other drivers either. If anything that was the unsafe guy.

Out of curiosity exactly how much longer is this one driver taking than the schedule permits, and how much quicker do the other drivers do it in?
I don't know the exact rules for this bus company, but generally the drivers are given some leeway since their lateness is usually out of their hands. Here they're given +/- 5 minutes...yes they can be early and still be considered on time.

[Broomjockey]

Out of curiosity exactly how much longer is this one driver taking than the schedule permits, and how much quicker do the other drivers do it in?
I don't know the exact rules for this bus company, but generally the drivers are given some leeway since their lateness is usually out of their hands. Here they're given +/- 5 minutes...yes they can be early and still be considered on time.

This guy was anywhere from 5 to 8 minutes late. If he was 5, I got to see my transfer pull out of the transit terminal as he was turning the corner. Everyone else made it with a minute or two to spare. And again, I'd like to point out that this was not an "occassional occurance." This was *every* single time I was stuck on that driver's bus. Didn't matter what time of day. Weather conditions. Anything. That driver was *always* at least 5 minutes late. No one else. Freakiest thing ever. Again though, this was several years ago by this point. I don't have to go down to that area of the city anymore (quit the job over there), plus they've added routes, so it's not much of a deal anymore. Just thought it was supremely odd, and in the vein of this thread

[scruff]

5 mins late?? Good lord, round here that'd pass without comment.
30mins late isn't that unusual.
_Cancelled without notice_ isn't that unusual.