Bus Driver rudeness

[Lady Legira]

Me and my sister went shopping today slightly out of town which meant we caught two buses. The first was it's usual quiet self but the second was more interesting.

We get on, show our tickets and all is fine. We sit down not far away from the driver and start talking among ourselves. I noticed a gentleman run up the side of the bus and lean in to talk to the driver. The man spoke clearly so we heard every word.

GM - Could you hold up for a few moment while this lady gets on. (he points to a frail woman bent over quite badly and using a cane, clearly disabled in some manner).

Driver - NO! (he did shout it too) IT'LL MAKE ME LATE, I CAN'T BE HOLDING UP FOR EVERY OLD WOMAN. (or at words to that effect). He carried on frothing until the woman got on and yelled at her to sit down after she thanked him for staying until she got on.

OW - I ain't deaf you know, rude devil.

The woman got off a couple of stops later which wasn't far but clearly she couldn't walk that far. In the mean time my sister has looked up the details of the complaint line and when we got off at our stop we grabbed the bus number. All buses in our area at least have a number printed on them so you can report clearly which bus you were on.

We were both quite shocked and even angry about the way he treated the woman. So my sister rang them as soon as we had the number. Apparently he's now got a report on his record and a Manager will be speaking with him.

[LillFilly]

Wow, what an ass. Hope he gets treated like that someday!

[BlaqueKatt]

here if our bus drivers are late over a set number of times(buses tracked by GPS), they will be disciplined and or fired-maybe it's the same there?

[Chromatix]

I don't think buses here are tracked for time, except perhaps for not departing specific stops *before* time. It would be highly impractical in winter anyway, as during blizzards the focus is on keeping the service going at all. Even in summer, traffic easily causes several minutes of variation.

This does however mean that connections between buses indicated by the route-planning service must be taken with a large pinch of salt.

[PepperElf]

i once had a driver snarling at me too. i went to get on but his ramp wasn't down yet. He mumbled something that sounded like "come on" so, puzzled I jumped on. Only to have him start snarling at me for not waiting.

And then grumbling about how stupid "some people" were for a few stops.

[Opalin]

The heck? Which is worse? Being a bit late or hurting someone because you drove off like a crazy person?

I don't think I've ever bumped onto one of our local buses on time here, but the city did put up these neat little signs that give estimates of when the bus is going to show up based on the last time it passed a station.

[Kagato]

In Auckland these days they have electronic signs that show how far away the next bus is (and says DLY if they are delayed for whatever reason)

One of the first rules that we were taught when I was driving buses was "If you are running late - RUN LATE. Do NOT skip bus stops, do not speed. If we get pulled over by a police officer for speeding, WE pay the ticket, not the company."

[rose_metal_nz]

In Auckland these days they have electronic signs that show how far away the next bus is (and says DLY if they are delayed for whatever reason)

One of the first rules that we were taught when I was driving buses was "If you are running late - RUN LATE. Do NOT skip bus stops, do not speed. If we get pulled over by a police officer for speeding, WE pay the ticket, not the company."

And yet the buses from Albert St to the Shore always leave earlier than displayed *shakes fists* Messes with me everytime, when I get there 5 mins earlier & it's already left!!!

[Kagato]

Which bus company runs your buses? I still know some of the guys at North Star and will not hesitate to kick up a stink if my old co-workers are slipping into bad habits. If it is Ritchies I am not surprised.

[Rapscallion]

LL is in the UK, same as me. Those names are literally foreign to us

Rapscallion

[Teskeria]

While complaining loudly that he couldn't, he still waited and let her on? sounds to me like he knew of a person onboard who would complain if he waited, so he was trying to cover himself. Choose the wrong way obviously, but I've seen drivers do that. Usually, they wink at the person getting on, And the one who asked them to wait, while they complain so those people know it is for show.

[Kagato]

LL is in the UK, same as me. Those names are literally foreign to us

Rapscallion

I was more talking to rose_metal since she lives in the same city as me. Really should use quotes more often.

[Rapscallion]

Oops! Read it wrong.

Rapscallion