A jerk of a bus driver

[rerant]

Our buses have bike racks.

On my way to work today the bus I got on had a bike in the rack. As the bus pulled into the mall a guy got off and obviously forgot to tell the driver that the bike on the front was his.
The passenger made a move towards the front of the bus, before the driver had even moved a millimetre, then out of nowhere the driver explodes.

'WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING, YOU FUCKING MORON? YOU WANT ME TO RUN YOUR ASS OVER? YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO FUCKING TELL ME YOU'RE GETTING YOUR BIKE, YOU DIPSHIT!"

Never mind the fact the driver would have obviously helped the guy get the bike up there in the first place and would have logically remembered that this dude would more than likely want his bike back once he was off the bus. It was only me, the bike dude and two women who were together with a baby on the bus so it's not as though it was crammed and the bike could have belonged to any number of people.

After all the pissing and moaning TTC union officials did this year about how transit employees are treated by the public, resulting in higher pay and better working conditions (keep in mind here that some transit workers are pulling in around $80,000/year by picking up small bits of overtime and due to the fact that they get paid an insane amount of money) that came after the whole TTC went on strike leaving riders screwed for transportation I am seriously considering writing to the TTC to let them know about this particular bus driver's actions and treatment of this passenger.

I made note of the time of day, the route (it's not one I usually take so I had to make sure I wouldn't get it confused with my regular route) and a general description of the driver.

No one should be subject to that kind of embarrassment from a simple mistake.

[IEatCustomers4Breakfast]

Oh yeah, definitely write a letter. He might be a bit of an EW if because of his union, he's getting paid $80k/year, and again, because of the union, probably isn't afraid of getting fired. *shrug*

[Muses_nightmare]

I've seen some bad bus drivers,I mean, I knew one who would routinely drive past my stop after I'd pushed the stop button, or others who would drive away literally when someone was inches from the door, including elderly people, and one that actually pulled over to get coffee in between stops. But really, saying that kind of thing to a passenger is above and beyond. A letter would be a good idea I think.

[rerant]

I've seen some bad bus drivers,I mean, I knew one who would routinely drive past my stop after I'd pushed the stop button, or others who would drive away literally when someone was inches from the door, including elderly people, and one that actually pulled over to get coffee in between stops. But really, saying that kind of thing to a passenger is above and beyond. A letter would be a good idea I think.

Sounds like a lot of the bus drivers here.
They're constantly pulling over for coffee. On the one hand I can understand needing coffee when you're responsible for the safety of your passengers, but on the other hand unless they're doing a double shift or pulling overtime they only work four hour shifts, so even if it's 4am it's unlikely they've been driving all day.

The stop closest to my house is the end of the line for buses and streetcars, complete with a loop for the streetcars.
Logic would dictate that if you're taking either the bus or streetcar and have to transfer to the other you would ride all the way to the end then hop on your next mode of transportation from there.
I've seen drivers rip people a new one, telling them they have to get off the stop BEFORE the end because otherwise they're back-tracking, which isn't allowed on our transfer system.
OK, it's not like I'm getting off at a stop, walking across the street with my transfer then taking the next available streetcar back home, I'm getting off at the end of the line and using a sensible transfer point.

They're on a power trip and it's maddening.

[Chromatix]

On the Helsinki system, it's actually perfectly reasonable to use your transfer time to go back home. Since the allowed transfer time is 1 hour plus (and applies to the time you either get on your last mode of transport, or walk into the metro station), you can get half-way across the city, do some light shopping, and get back on the same ticket. It's a good way of saving money, if you happen to be hard-up.

[smileyeagle1021]

On the Helsinki system, it's actually perfectly reasonable to use your transfer time to go back home. Since the allowed transfer time is 1 hour plus (and applies to the time you either get on your last mode of transport, or walk into the metro station), you can get half-way across the city, do some light shopping, and get back on the same ticket. It's a good way of saving money, if you happen to be hard-up.

Salt Lake is the same way... the way they view it, you aren't paying a fare, you're buying a 2 hour pass, which you may use as you see fit during those 2 hours (granted, I have a yearly pass so I don't have to worry about it).

[Muses_nightmare]

I've seen drivers rip people a new one, telling them they have to get off the stop BEFORE the end because otherwise they're back-tracking, which isn't allowed on our transfer system

.

That's something I've never heard of, interesting (not the drivers being rude, but the system itself) then again I'm so used to Vancouver transit, you get an hour and a half pass to go wherever you want in the zone(s) you've paid for. I miss vancouver transit, where I live now it utterly sucks, and the busses stop at 10! The "night" bus starts running at 7, and only goes certain places.

[Sparky]

Our buses have bike racks.

On my way to work today the bus I got on had a bike in the rack. As the bus pulled into the mall a guy got off and obviously forgot to tell the driver that the bike on the front was his.
The passenger made a move towards the front of the bus, before the driver had even moved a millimetre, then out of nowhere the driver explodes.

'WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING, YOU FUCKING MORON? YOU WANT ME TO RUN YOUR ASS OVER? YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO FUCKING TELL ME YOU'RE GETTING YOUR BIKE, YOU DIPSHIT!"

Never mind the fact the driver would have obviously helped the guy get the bike up there in the first place and would have logically remembered that this dude would more than likely want his bike back once he was off the bus. It was only me, the bike dude and two women who were together with a baby on the bus so it's not as though it was crammed and the bike could have belonged to any number of people.

After all the pissing and moaning TTC union officials did this year about how transit employees are treated by the public, resulting in higher pay and better working conditions (keep in mind here that some transit workers are pulling in around $80,000/year by picking up small bits of overtime and due to the fact that they get paid an insane amount of money) that came after the whole TTC went on strike leaving riders screwed for transportation I am seriously considering writing to the TTC to let them know about this particular bus driver's actions and treatment of this passenger.

I made note of the time of day, the route (it's not one I usually take so I had to make sure I wouldn't get it confused with my regular route) and a general description of the driver.

No one should be subject to that kind of embarrassment from a simple mistake.

From experience, I can tell you that what probably happened was that the driver closed the doors, checked his mirrors for traffic, and was juuuuust ready to hit the accelerator when he suddenly noticed that he was about to run over the guy. Adrenelin shot through his system and he thought he was having a heart attack.

Yeah, he was inexcusably rude. Yeah, he never should have cussed and yelled at the guy like that. You're entirely right that no one should be subject to that kind of embarrassment from a simple mistake.

There's no excuse for completely losing your temper like that. Just explaining why it happened.

...and one that actually pulled over to get coffee in between stops.

Sounds like a lot of the bus drivers here.
They're constantly pulling over for coffee. On the one hand I can understand needing coffee when you're responsible for the safety of your passengers, but on the other hand unless they're doing a double shift or pulling overtime they only work four hour shifts, so even if it's 4am it's unlikely they've been driving all day.

And this is a problem because why?

Of course I'm assuming that the bus is running on schedule. If the bus is running late, you're right, the driver should not be pulling off unless it's an emergency. But if the bus is on time or ahead of schedule, what's the problem. Sometimes there's extra time in the schedule at certain times of day. It's easy to run early, and that's a huge no-no.

I used to get dirty looks from passengers when I pulled off for any reason. I know it's frustrating. You stand and wait for the bus, it finally comes, now you have to wait while the drive takes care of some personal business. But if the bus is on time, you're not going to get there any faster if the driver keeps going. He'll just have to either drive slower or pull off and simply sit at the side of the road and wait for time to catch up. And those stops may be his only chance to use the restroom.

The stop closest to my house is the end of the line for buses and streetcars, complete with a loop for the streetcars.
Logic would dictate that if you're taking either the bus or streetcar and have to transfer to the other you would ride all the way to the end then hop on your next mode of transportation from there.
I've seen drivers rip people a new one, telling them they have to get off the stop BEFORE the end because otherwise they're back-tracking, which isn't allowed on our transfer system.
OK, it's not like I'm getting off at a stop, walking across the street with my transfer then taking the next available streetcar back home, I'm getting off at the end of the line and using a sensible transfer point.

They're on a power trip and it's maddening.

That makes no sense, but if it IS the rule for their system (which I agree doesn't make sense), they could get written up or otherwise disciplined for letting passengers do this. You never know.

[rerant]

On the Helsinki system, it's actually perfectly reasonable to use your transfer time to go back home. Since the allowed transfer time is 1 hour plus (and applies to the time you either get on your last mode of transport, or walk into the metro station), you can get half-way across the city, do some light shopping, and get back on the same ticket. It's a good way of saving money, if you happen to be hard-up.

Mississauga Transit (adjoining city) is like that. Your transfer just shows the time it expires and you can use it to go wherever you need to in whichever direction until that time.
Toronto transfers are weiiiiiird but this page explains how to read them: http://www.blogto.com/city/2007/10/h..._ttc_transfer/

Personally I don't see why we don't just get timed transfers like most other places have, but hey, if it makes sense then it's not allowed.

[Muses_nightmare]

Of course I'm assuming that the bus is running on schedule. If the bus is running late, you're right, the driver should not be pulling off unless it's an emergency. But if the bus is on time or ahead of schedule, what's the problem. Sometimes there's extra time in the schedule at certain times of day. It's easy to run early, and that's a huge no-no.

Most of the buses on the route I took were either just on time, or a few minutes late. This was at 6:30 - 7am when it's getting into rush hour.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

Geez, that bus driver's attitude reminds me of Adam Sandler in The Wedding Singer.

"Well, I have control of this ginormous steel conveyance, and you don't. SO YOU WILL LISTEN TO EVERY DAMN WORD I HAVE TO SAY."

[Difdi]

One of the local bus routes has had the same driver on the same weekdays for the past 2 years. His shift is regular like clockwork. Too bad his driving is too. His bus is always almost exactly 6 minutes late. It doesn't matter where you catch it at either. First stop on the route, middle of the route, or the end. 6 minutes. His bus has a clock (updated automatically from the master clock at the bus depot) to let him know if he's on time. I've set my watch to the same clock the bus depot uses. The only times that bus has been on time was when he was out sick. On those sick days, everybody missed the bus.

What's really alarming is how his predecessor on the route was apparently unaware of state traffic laws. Any dead/non-functioning traffic light is treated as a stop sign. This is mandatory, state wide. Unfortunately, apparently nobody told the afore-mentioned driver about it. During one power failure along the route, he just blasted through every intersection, usually at 20mph over the limit.

[rerant]

During one power failure along the route, he just blasted through every intersection, usually at 20mph over the limit.

I always wonder about buses going over the sped limit.
I've been on many buses and streetcars that have just FLOWN and sure if I'm running late I don't mind, but I always wonder if a cop would ever pull them over.
I've never seen it but certainly a cop could because anyone disobeying speed limits gets the same punishment, bus or not.
I wonder if they, the police, have ever done this or if they just report the bus to transit officials.

I should ask a cop one day.

[Chromatix]

I don't know about America, but over here buses and lorries are held to *higher* standards of driving than cars. They have lower speed limits on motorways, lower BAC limits, and they can lose their enhanced licence if they're caught breaking the road laws.

Now, time was that buses were lumbering double-decker brutes with ridiculously small engines, and therefore had trouble reaching the speed limit between stops. But since about 1990, buses have become a lot faster - and originally, in at least some places, you could pay a premium fare to get on the faster one (a single-decker with a turbo-diesel). It's possible that some drivers learned on the lumbering brutes, but haven't subsequently learned to ease up on the loud pedal in buses with a more appropriately-sized engine.