We bus drivers don't just drive buses. We have to uphold our company's rules and regulations. One of which is that passengers pay the requisite fare for the journey they make. Often a passenger will ask what the fare is before tendering the money - possibly because they may not have sufficient on them or that they have the option of a lift if they hang on a little longer.
A fat teen was waiting for my bus today and got on with a suitcase. To me it looked as if she was returning for the summer from university. She asked for a single fare to X. I told her this amount, a little over £3.50. She exclaimed at the cost of the fare and asked if it had increased recently.
"Yes, it went up 10p at the start of the month" I answered.
But she didn't want to hear this. 10p more was nothing compared to what this fat teen claimed I was asking of her.
Then she asked "How much is a child fare?"
Clearly the child fare would be cheaper than the standard, adult fare. On this route you can be up to 17 years old and still pay a child fare. I strongly believed she was in excess of this age and was just using it as a means to reduce the fare. I asked her how old she was.
"Errrr, seventeen" she stumbled. She even apologised and said she didn't know why it took her so long.
Well I knew why - because she was attempting to commit fraud. I could have asked for some ID I suppose, though that's not company policy. Instead I told her the new fare - £2.90, which was still significantly more than she had in her hand.
After much digging about she said "Well I can muster £2.60, soooooooo, there you are."
"But the fare's £2.90".
"Well that's all I've got!"
"Well you need to go to a cash point and catch the next bus in 15 minutes."
"I don't have any cash on my card."
"Well £2.90 is the fare and if you don't pay it the difference comes from my wages and I'm not prepared for that to happen."
In the past I've over-ridden the machine, but was deeply suspicious of this fat teen. She'd acted most oddly when offering up her age and had been travelling during term time - again, possibly a student returning home. I couldn't prove anything, but had my lack of discretion to countenance her likely bullshit.
Amazingly, the empty purse suddenly produced two 20p coins that weren't there before. She possibly felt that £2.60 was all she was prepared to pay for the journey. As she handed the newfound cash over, she said "There you are, now you don't have to be nasty to me anymore."
Nasty - you ain't seen nothing, love.
I gave her one of my favourite lectures about how she couldn't tell Tesco you weren't able to pay the cost of a pack of crisps as you didn't have enough on you. She waddled off to the back of the bus, thighs rubbing together.
Common Sense Solution: Many passengers lie. They somehow see a bus driver as a soft touch. The bus is going from X to Z anyway, so they'll just try and offer a token gesture to travel, whereas at Tesco they can't physically leave the store with their purchases unless they have the right money to pay. Yes, this is life and I have spent much of mine dealing with it. But bus drivers can fight back in ways detailed above. I could have asked for ID to really throw the cat amongst the pigeons. That would almost certainly prove she was not entitled to an adult fare and the higher fare be charged. Even with the additional cash 'suddenly' found, this wouldn't cover it, so she simply would not be eligible to travel. Why should she travel between X and Z for less that the person in front and behind her? I've used this line of argument before as it morally gets the passengers on your side. I've also over-ridden the ticket machine, too, as £2.60 is better than nothing. Admittedly it's not the quoted fare (£2.90) or even the correct fare (£3.50), but it was money when all said and done. And I'd've done this had it not been for her struggling with her age...
Showing posts with label Liars. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Liars. Show all posts
Saturday, 26 May 2012
Thursday, 19 April 2012
The Lying Bitch
Passengers lie. That's life. Not all of them, but more than your boss will publicly admit. And your boss is in a good position to see this, having fielded all the complaints that, through utilising the CCTV footage, can be proven as bullshit.
A woman who looks like mutton dressed as lamb gets on in a village in an area where her bus pass cannot be used before 9.30am on a weekday. Now she's always paid cash but recently must have turned 60. Equipped with this precious piece of card, she's tries to board at 8am with her pass. The first time she did this, she had a massive row with the relatively new driver, who became very concerned that he was in the wrong, despite knowing otherwise. All went quiet for a number of months but she's started again.
What she doesn't know is that we drivers communicate to each other through a series of grunts. 7 grunts and a squeal means: "That nasty posh tart who's recently turned 60 who gets on at X will try and take the piss with a bus pass and under no circumstances accept it for travel on a weekday."
She's clearly cottoned onto this non-acceptance now, so matters have changed. Her single fare was £2 though with the fares rise last week it is now £2.10 (it's not, but I'm using this to illustrate the actual scenario where her single to town has risen by 10p recently).
She boarded my bus today and put down just £2 and briskly walked off. This despite me telling her the fare was £2.10. I called her back rather loudly as on the first occasion she didn't hear. Back she came and then argued the toss about how I was wrong. I suggested she'd not travelled on the bus since the fares rise but she's on the bus every day and has never been charged £2.10 yet. "All the other drivers can't be wrong, surely?"
"Yes they are. It's £2.10 please," said I, stony faced.
With much head shaking, she paid up and sat down. She must think we're all thick. We cannot override the ticket machine. Where she gets on to where she is going has the fare pre-programmed into the ticket machine as £2.10. There's no way we can offer another fare unless her journey is different.
Common Sense Solution: hold these arse holes in the same contempt that they hold you. You'll always win provided you don't swear or do something that will cause the passenger to contact your depot to complain about your attitude. Smiling is especially good in these circumstances as you're doing it to be a cocky git, while they cannot complain as outwardly it appears polite. Just remember, in virtually all cases like this, the passenger is lying or, at best, mistaken. Uphold the party line.
A woman who looks like mutton dressed as lamb gets on in a village in an area where her bus pass cannot be used before 9.30am on a weekday. Now she's always paid cash but recently must have turned 60. Equipped with this precious piece of card, she's tries to board at 8am with her pass. The first time she did this, she had a massive row with the relatively new driver, who became very concerned that he was in the wrong, despite knowing otherwise. All went quiet for a number of months but she's started again.
What she doesn't know is that we drivers communicate to each other through a series of grunts. 7 grunts and a squeal means: "That nasty posh tart who's recently turned 60 who gets on at X will try and take the piss with a bus pass and under no circumstances accept it for travel on a weekday."
She's clearly cottoned onto this non-acceptance now, so matters have changed. Her single fare was £2 though with the fares rise last week it is now £2.10 (it's not, but I'm using this to illustrate the actual scenario where her single to town has risen by 10p recently).
She boarded my bus today and put down just £2 and briskly walked off. This despite me telling her the fare was £2.10. I called her back rather loudly as on the first occasion she didn't hear. Back she came and then argued the toss about how I was wrong. I suggested she'd not travelled on the bus since the fares rise but she's on the bus every day and has never been charged £2.10 yet. "All the other drivers can't be wrong, surely?"
"Yes they are. It's £2.10 please," said I, stony faced.
With much head shaking, she paid up and sat down. She must think we're all thick. We cannot override the ticket machine. Where she gets on to where she is going has the fare pre-programmed into the ticket machine as £2.10. There's no way we can offer another fare unless her journey is different.
Common Sense Solution: hold these arse holes in the same contempt that they hold you. You'll always win provided you don't swear or do something that will cause the passenger to contact your depot to complain about your attitude. Smiling is especially good in these circumstances as you're doing it to be a cocky git, while they cannot complain as outwardly it appears polite. Just remember, in virtually all cases like this, the passenger is lying or, at best, mistaken. Uphold the party line.
Tuesday, 17 April 2012
Lunacy
Today a woman boarded with a collection of small kids and a buggy. Many of the little chavs were very young and ran off to the back of the bus. The woman asked for just a ticket for herself. I enquired as to the age of her gang and it transpired 3 of the 6 were of a chargeable fare. That pissed her off immediately - being unable to commit fraud.
Anyway, she paid and moved towards the buggy zone. Except she stopped by the luggage rack over the front left-side wheel and proceeded to lift her entire, unfolded buggy up and place it in the rack on its wheels. This was the first time in the many decades I've been driving buses that I've ever seen this happen.
"What are you doing!" I asked.
"Putting it up here out the way."
"You need to fold it if you want to put it there - what if it fell on a child as they were getting off?"
"Well the other driver said it would be OK".
Ah, that old chestnut; the OTHER DRIVER. This infamous character is the one who lets passengers do as they please. They let them get away with whatever they want yet curiously they cannot be described or named.
She even offered to lay it flat - but fully opened - on the luggage rack, wheels sticking into the aisle at the right height of an infant's head.
"I'm sorry, you either leave it open and leave it there (pointing at the empty buggy zone) or fold it up. It's just not safe to leave it there."
More tutting and huffing and she eventually left it in the buggy zone but buggered off down the back with her clan. To be fair to everyone else, if your sprog isn't sitting in the buggy, then it needs to be folded up.
As I got a couple of stops down the road, the entire buggy tipped back as the under-class mother hadn't distributed all the bags she had attached to it properly. I couldn't resist leaning round and saying to her, as she righted it, "Imagine if that was three feet in the air over the front wheel like you'd wanted at first."
She didn't respond.
Common Sense Solution: As unpopular as some rulings are to passengers, you have to enforce them. Drivers are not only paid a pittance to drive buses; they have to enforce and uphold company regulations and the law. Buggy owners are so selfish. Consistency needs to be maintained and 'the other driver' completely ignored as chances are he doesn't exist anyway. Also, the OAPs are on your side here too as they didn't have the luxury of super low floor buses when they were travelling with their kids.
Anyway, she paid and moved towards the buggy zone. Except she stopped by the luggage rack over the front left-side wheel and proceeded to lift her entire, unfolded buggy up and place it in the rack on its wheels. This was the first time in the many decades I've been driving buses that I've ever seen this happen.
"What are you doing!" I asked.
"Putting it up here out the way."
"You need to fold it if you want to put it there - what if it fell on a child as they were getting off?"
"Well the other driver said it would be OK".
Ah, that old chestnut; the OTHER DRIVER. This infamous character is the one who lets passengers do as they please. They let them get away with whatever they want yet curiously they cannot be described or named.
She even offered to lay it flat - but fully opened - on the luggage rack, wheels sticking into the aisle at the right height of an infant's head.
"I'm sorry, you either leave it open and leave it there (pointing at the empty buggy zone) or fold it up. It's just not safe to leave it there."
More tutting and huffing and she eventually left it in the buggy zone but buggered off down the back with her clan. To be fair to everyone else, if your sprog isn't sitting in the buggy, then it needs to be folded up.
As I got a couple of stops down the road, the entire buggy tipped back as the under-class mother hadn't distributed all the bags she had attached to it properly. I couldn't resist leaning round and saying to her, as she righted it, "Imagine if that was three feet in the air over the front wheel like you'd wanted at first."
She didn't respond.
Common Sense Solution: As unpopular as some rulings are to passengers, you have to enforce them. Drivers are not only paid a pittance to drive buses; they have to enforce and uphold company regulations and the law. Buggy owners are so selfish. Consistency needs to be maintained and 'the other driver' completely ignored as chances are he doesn't exist anyway. Also, the OAPs are on your side here too as they didn't have the luxury of super low floor buses when they were travelling with their kids.
Saturday, 3 December 2011
All for the sake of 9p
A teen boarded today and asked for his destination. The fare was £2.80. He gave me a load of coins and said "There you are, mate, it's all there."
I trust no one when they do this, so put it on my cash tray top and counted it out. The total was £2.71. He was 9p short.
If he'd boarded and said: "I'm really sorry but I've just counted my money and all I've got is £2.71 for a teen single to X, could you let me off?" I may well have done, and manually issued him a £2.71 ticket. I would not have given him a ticket for £2.80 though as I would then personally be responsible for the 9p and I am not employed to pay passengers' bus fares.
So, in my eyes, he was deliberately trying to board without the correct fare by making out the money was exact when it was nothing of the sort. I told him he couldn't travel unless he had £2.80. He then asked how far £2.71 would take him because - guess what - he had no more money on him. I told him which village he could travel to and he went for that. He even had 11p change as that fare was £2.60. Bargain.
Now, when we got to that village, do you think he rang the bell and alighted?
Did he bollocks.
I didn't shout out the village name, I left my cab and shot upstairs to get him. One day I'll possibly be stabbed for acting like this, but until then, I have behaviour on my bus the way I expect it to be. If you saw me face-to-face you also wouldn't argue with me, let's just put it that way. He was 'lead' off the bus exclaiming that it was cold outside. Though no sooner he he got off the bus he lit up a cigarette. "Dam!" I thought, "I should have charged him adult fare!"
Common Sense Solution: Always count money presented to you in this way. Mostly the amount is correct. Sometimes there's a little more. A bus driver should never be expected to foot the partial cost of a passenger's ticket in this way. The driver needs to know what the score is and many will allow a 9p discrepancy to go. Treating a bus driver like a mug or simply lying to him, will result in this way.
I trust no one when they do this, so put it on my cash tray top and counted it out. The total was £2.71. He was 9p short.
If he'd boarded and said: "I'm really sorry but I've just counted my money and all I've got is £2.71 for a teen single to X, could you let me off?" I may well have done, and manually issued him a £2.71 ticket. I would not have given him a ticket for £2.80 though as I would then personally be responsible for the 9p and I am not employed to pay passengers' bus fares.
So, in my eyes, he was deliberately trying to board without the correct fare by making out the money was exact when it was nothing of the sort. I told him he couldn't travel unless he had £2.80. He then asked how far £2.71 would take him because - guess what - he had no more money on him. I told him which village he could travel to and he went for that. He even had 11p change as that fare was £2.60. Bargain.
Now, when we got to that village, do you think he rang the bell and alighted?
Did he bollocks.
I didn't shout out the village name, I left my cab and shot upstairs to get him. One day I'll possibly be stabbed for acting like this, but until then, I have behaviour on my bus the way I expect it to be. If you saw me face-to-face you also wouldn't argue with me, let's just put it that way. He was 'lead' off the bus exclaiming that it was cold outside. Though no sooner he he got off the bus he lit up a cigarette. "Dam!" I thought, "I should have charged him adult fare!"
Common Sense Solution: Always count money presented to you in this way. Mostly the amount is correct. Sometimes there's a little more. A bus driver should never be expected to foot the partial cost of a passenger's ticket in this way. The driver needs to know what the score is and many will allow a 9p discrepancy to go. Treating a bus driver like a mug or simply lying to him, will result in this way.
Friday, 16 September 2011
The Other Driver
This term is uttered almost weekly to bus drivers. It is usually announced by a passenger when they have been told they cannot get their own way. "Well the other driver lets me get off here" or "Well the other driver never has a problem with a £20 at 6am" or "Well the other driver always lets me get on in between stops."
Not dissimilar to rocking horse shit, The Other Driver does not exist.
I had an incident this morning in which The Other Driver managed to issue a ticket that it is impossible to do. A guy boarded in town and wanted to go 15 minutes to a suburb. The fare: £2.90.
"The other driver only charged me £1.90 on Monday," he said.
Oh did he now. We do not do a £1.90 fare and the ticket type this chap wanted cannot be overridden, either. Now, like all of us from time to time, he was simply mistaken, except this guy wasn't willing to accept this: "I think £2.90 is very expensive!" I replied, "Well that's the fare."
"Well how far will £1.90 get me?" About 2 stops within the town centre, was the reply.
The passenger coughed up the extortionate £2.90 and sat down. Calm then ruled supreme.
Common Sense Solution: You need to be firm. Tell the passenger if no such fare exists. Don't give in. Consistency is key. The Other Driver will be sure to get a mention, but remember that he or she is an illusive figure - a figment of their imagination, a justification of their verbal diarrhoea.
Not dissimilar to rocking horse shit, The Other Driver does not exist.
I had an incident this morning in which The Other Driver managed to issue a ticket that it is impossible to do. A guy boarded in town and wanted to go 15 minutes to a suburb. The fare: £2.90.
"The other driver only charged me £1.90 on Monday," he said.
Oh did he now. We do not do a £1.90 fare and the ticket type this chap wanted cannot be overridden, either. Now, like all of us from time to time, he was simply mistaken, except this guy wasn't willing to accept this: "I think £2.90 is very expensive!" I replied, "Well that's the fare."
"Well how far will £1.90 get me?" About 2 stops within the town centre, was the reply.
The passenger coughed up the extortionate £2.90 and sat down. Calm then ruled supreme.
Common Sense Solution: You need to be firm. Tell the passenger if no such fare exists. Don't give in. Consistency is key. The Other Driver will be sure to get a mention, but remember that he or she is an illusive figure - a figment of their imagination, a justification of their verbal diarrhoea.
Monday, 22 August 2011
Hail 'n' Ride
The term Hail 'n' Ride throws fear and dread into a bus driver's life. With the average IQ of those being conveyed so low, the ambiguity a scheme like this produces is ticking time bomb, just waiting to go off.
Effectively, a bus operator designates certain stretches of route as Hail 'n' Ride because they can't be fagged to cough up for some bus stop signs to attach to lamp posts. They have to registered which sections are Hail 'n' Ride with the Traffic Commissioner with the bus service registration document, but have no obligation to make reference to it in the public timetable. This is a good thing.
One passenger's 'safe' location is not always the driver's. We have a rural route that passes through a number of villages where Hail 'n' Ride is employed. To make matters worse, rather than there be no bus stops at all in the villages, there are some. One village has its eastern half littered with them but none in the west. Another has one in the middle (timing point) but none anywhere else.
The guys I work with do not make things any better. Some drivers are happy to stop a million times in the same bloody hamlet, dropping old ladies off at their front doors. Others, with a sense of punctuality, do not.
And this is when the arguments start. I'm all for making life easy for both passengers and drivers, but Hail 'n' Ride works contrary to this. Passengers simply are not qualified sufficiently to assess whether the location they're stood is safe for a bus to stop. A sad but accurate truth.
If someone is stood on a road junction and flags me down, I pass them, slowly, and pull over a little further up, so that my 40-foot bus is not illegally obstructing the road adjoining from the left. This woman I collected from this location today was most put out at having to walk 35 feet to board. I told her that she needs to stand here in future so that I'm not blocking the junction. Her response?
"I've always got on at the corner!"
No you haven't you two-faced lying cow. I know as I've picked her up here before. I'm sure they do it rather than acknowledge that something a bus driver has said is actually true.
"Can you drop me off at the horses?" is another request often given.
But the main entrance to the equestrian centre is not enough - horse owners want to be dropped off at the actual stable within the complex, each backing onto the passing road. Tough shit. You get dropped off at the main entrance and picked up there afterwards.
Then there are the occasions when the passengers aren't at fault (yes, it does happen). I stopped outside a tiny retail park on Saturday, to drop some OAPs off, and as I pulled off I spotted a collection of people stood four or five bus lengths down the road, who proceeded to flag me down. They were new to the area and I collected them as they were stood in a very clear and safe locality. But what can you say? If you tell them to wait where the small retail park is, they could legitimately say: "But where does it say to do that?" or "But where in the timetable does it say I have to wait in that specific spot?"
All true.
Common Sense Solution: Ultimately, operators' and local authorities' hands need forcing by making the stoppage to load/unload passengers anywhere other than a signed bus stop illegal. This would force them to splash out on some bus stop signs. Some authorities take responsibility for the erection of bus stops and timetable information and these tend to be more comprehensive than areas where bus operators are responsible. A bus stop flag is surely an advertisement tool - paint the countryside with them, to promote your service. Don't be stingy and rely on Hail 'n' Ride schemes as a cheap cop-out. Drivers should be consistent and all adopt the same policy on what is and what isn't a safe place to stop.
Effectively, a bus operator designates certain stretches of route as Hail 'n' Ride because they can't be fagged to cough up for some bus stop signs to attach to lamp posts. They have to registered which sections are Hail 'n' Ride with the Traffic Commissioner with the bus service registration document, but have no obligation to make reference to it in the public timetable. This is a good thing.
One passenger's 'safe' location is not always the driver's. We have a rural route that passes through a number of villages where Hail 'n' Ride is employed. To make matters worse, rather than there be no bus stops at all in the villages, there are some. One village has its eastern half littered with them but none in the west. Another has one in the middle (timing point) but none anywhere else.
The guys I work with do not make things any better. Some drivers are happy to stop a million times in the same bloody hamlet, dropping old ladies off at their front doors. Others, with a sense of punctuality, do not.
And this is when the arguments start. I'm all for making life easy for both passengers and drivers, but Hail 'n' Ride works contrary to this. Passengers simply are not qualified sufficiently to assess whether the location they're stood is safe for a bus to stop. A sad but accurate truth.
If someone is stood on a road junction and flags me down, I pass them, slowly, and pull over a little further up, so that my 40-foot bus is not illegally obstructing the road adjoining from the left. This woman I collected from this location today was most put out at having to walk 35 feet to board. I told her that she needs to stand here in future so that I'm not blocking the junction. Her response?
"I've always got on at the corner!"
No you haven't you two-faced lying cow. I know as I've picked her up here before. I'm sure they do it rather than acknowledge that something a bus driver has said is actually true.
"Can you drop me off at the horses?" is another request often given.
But the main entrance to the equestrian centre is not enough - horse owners want to be dropped off at the actual stable within the complex, each backing onto the passing road. Tough shit. You get dropped off at the main entrance and picked up there afterwards.
Then there are the occasions when the passengers aren't at fault (yes, it does happen). I stopped outside a tiny retail park on Saturday, to drop some OAPs off, and as I pulled off I spotted a collection of people stood four or five bus lengths down the road, who proceeded to flag me down. They were new to the area and I collected them as they were stood in a very clear and safe locality. But what can you say? If you tell them to wait where the small retail park is, they could legitimately say: "But where does it say to do that?" or "But where in the timetable does it say I have to wait in that specific spot?"
All true.
Common Sense Solution: Ultimately, operators' and local authorities' hands need forcing by making the stoppage to load/unload passengers anywhere other than a signed bus stop illegal. This would force them to splash out on some bus stop signs. Some authorities take responsibility for the erection of bus stops and timetable information and these tend to be more comprehensive than areas where bus operators are responsible. A bus stop flag is surely an advertisement tool - paint the countryside with them, to promote your service. Don't be stingy and rely on Hail 'n' Ride schemes as a cheap cop-out. Drivers should be consistent and all adopt the same policy on what is and what isn't a safe place to stop.
Saturday, 13 August 2011
Complete & Utter Bullshit
The reason why so much scum in society travel by bus is because it's convenient and cheap. Despite this, plenty bemoan the cost of their trip to their drug dealer and that they have to walk for 6 minutes to flag a bus down. Trains get a fair dollop of the underclass, mainly in urban areas where stops are located close together and free rides can be had. Far fewer on planes.
Anyway, one element the scum of society possess is their ability to blatantly lie to your face.
A Scottish guy, dressed in a tracksuit with baseball cap, scars on his knuckles and tattoos on his face, flagged me down at a stop outside a supermarket today. He had a 'mini me' with him as his son was stood alongside.
"Can you tell me where the bus to Town B is?" Note the lack of 'excuse me' and 'please'.
"Yes, it doesn't call here for another 40 minutes, so the next one will be at 1110". Nice, clear, concise and answering a second question that was likely to follow.
"So what happened to the one at 1010?" he replied.
Now I knew it ran as I passed it on the way in and it was on time as far as I could remember. I didn't immediately say the latter but told the chap that it would have run, leaving the centre of Town A at 1000.
"Well it never fucking come this way!" he replied, so eloquently.
Oh well, such is life. If you can't physically see a bus go by then really you ought to expect to be left from time to time. I thought I would add that I'd passed it and it was on time, to which the NED replied:
"Oh OK then!"
What a wally. What happened to his firm statement previously? How can a bus that supposedly didn't operate now be greeted with such acceptance of the facts? These wankers are the sorts of people who serious drop drivers into hot water. An allegation like this to a large multi-national bus company will be enough to see the driver hauled before a disciplinary procedure. Yes, the CCTV footage would prove the service operated and the toss pot was not even stood there, but the anguish and nervousness felt by the driver would still exist up until that point.
Similarly, passengers who throw their bus ticket away as they take their seat can cause drivers to be suspended if they're approached by an inspector. Rather than admit they threw their ticket away, they state they weren't given one. This then sets red lights flashing and alarm bells ringing as the company worth billions immediately removes the driver from the bus and suspends him pending an investigation.
Common Sense Solution: The money generated by these low-income neanderthals is just as welcome as monies received from business people in shirts and ties. Consequently, the under-class will always be welcome on buses. But operators need to trust their workforce more. Immediately suspending/issuing allegations of impropriety to the drivers is wrong. It's one of the reasons turnover is so high in the industry. We are, for example, short-staffed in the middle of a recession. Why? Drivers cannot stand working for my company. They despise being assumed guilty until proven innocent. The under-class's fictitious stories are more often than not to blame.
Anyway, one element the scum of society possess is their ability to blatantly lie to your face.
A Scottish guy, dressed in a tracksuit with baseball cap, scars on his knuckles and tattoos on his face, flagged me down at a stop outside a supermarket today. He had a 'mini me' with him as his son was stood alongside.
"Can you tell me where the bus to Town B is?" Note the lack of 'excuse me' and 'please'.
"Yes, it doesn't call here for another 40 minutes, so the next one will be at 1110". Nice, clear, concise and answering a second question that was likely to follow.
"So what happened to the one at 1010?" he replied.
Now I knew it ran as I passed it on the way in and it was on time as far as I could remember. I didn't immediately say the latter but told the chap that it would have run, leaving the centre of Town A at 1000.
"Well it never fucking come this way!" he replied, so eloquently.
Oh well, such is life. If you can't physically see a bus go by then really you ought to expect to be left from time to time. I thought I would add that I'd passed it and it was on time, to which the NED replied:
"Oh OK then!"
What a wally. What happened to his firm statement previously? How can a bus that supposedly didn't operate now be greeted with such acceptance of the facts? These wankers are the sorts of people who serious drop drivers into hot water. An allegation like this to a large multi-national bus company will be enough to see the driver hauled before a disciplinary procedure. Yes, the CCTV footage would prove the service operated and the toss pot was not even stood there, but the anguish and nervousness felt by the driver would still exist up until that point.
Similarly, passengers who throw their bus ticket away as they take their seat can cause drivers to be suspended if they're approached by an inspector. Rather than admit they threw their ticket away, they state they weren't given one. This then sets red lights flashing and alarm bells ringing as the company worth billions immediately removes the driver from the bus and suspends him pending an investigation.
Common Sense Solution: The money generated by these low-income neanderthals is just as welcome as monies received from business people in shirts and ties. Consequently, the under-class will always be welcome on buses. But operators need to trust their workforce more. Immediately suspending/issuing allegations of impropriety to the drivers is wrong. It's one of the reasons turnover is so high in the industry. We are, for example, short-staffed in the middle of a recession. Why? Drivers cannot stand working for my company. They despise being assumed guilty until proven innocent. The under-class's fictitious stories are more often than not to blame.
Wednesday, 3 August 2011
The Invisible Bus(es)
A classic example of the complete and utter arse that passengers spout today.
I pulled up at a terminus and two inter-breds approached me. I was about to undertake a 15-min break off the vehicle and depart at xx00. Before me a bus had left at xx40 and the one before that at xx20. I passed them both on my way into the terminus.
The husband and wife/brother and sister (probably both) suggested in the strongest possible terms that neither the xx20 nor xx40 departures had operated. This was complete and utter rubbish. I knew both departures had operated as I'd seen them both on my way in - the actual buses and the drivers at the helm. And besides, if no vehicle had operated for almost 40 minutes on an urban service with a 20-minute frequency, there would be more than these two bemoaning my company and my colleagues.
All considered, I chose to (unusually) respond in the manner to which their fictitious story required. Short, sharp and minimalist.
"The xx20 ran as I saw the driver and the bus and people on board. The xx40 ran as I just passed him round this very corner on my way in. You either both fell asleep, were sat in the wrong place or had a bang on the head."
Now I don't want you to think that I said it in such a way as to bring this pair of simpletons to tears, but it was said like that but with a slight glint in my eye. They understood my angle and then chose to get on the bus I was in the process of leaving.
"Oh," said the woman, "you're not letting us on then?"
"No," said I, "I'm off on my break."
And when I returned to load up in time for my xx00 departure they were nowhere to be seen.
Common Sense Solution: Sadly there isn't one. Passengers often lie - more so than they claim bus drivers do. Either it is a lack of understanding, an inability to read bus timetables or because they had an argument with the driver in question and somehow believe they will get their own back this way. Our buses are all equipped with CCTV, which is connected to GPS. It shows a time stamp on the recording of all cameras on board and a realtime link to the depot shows the actual location of the bus. A stupid story like this should be treated with the contempt it deserves.
I pulled up at a terminus and two inter-breds approached me. I was about to undertake a 15-min break off the vehicle and depart at xx00. Before me a bus had left at xx40 and the one before that at xx20. I passed them both on my way into the terminus.
The husband and wife/brother and sister (probably both) suggested in the strongest possible terms that neither the xx20 nor xx40 departures had operated. This was complete and utter rubbish. I knew both departures had operated as I'd seen them both on my way in - the actual buses and the drivers at the helm. And besides, if no vehicle had operated for almost 40 minutes on an urban service with a 20-minute frequency, there would be more than these two bemoaning my company and my colleagues.
All considered, I chose to (unusually) respond in the manner to which their fictitious story required. Short, sharp and minimalist.
"The xx20 ran as I saw the driver and the bus and people on board. The xx40 ran as I just passed him round this very corner on my way in. You either both fell asleep, were sat in the wrong place or had a bang on the head."
Now I don't want you to think that I said it in such a way as to bring this pair of simpletons to tears, but it was said like that but with a slight glint in my eye. They understood my angle and then chose to get on the bus I was in the process of leaving.
"Oh," said the woman, "you're not letting us on then?"
"No," said I, "I'm off on my break."
And when I returned to load up in time for my xx00 departure they were nowhere to be seen.
Common Sense Solution: Sadly there isn't one. Passengers often lie - more so than they claim bus drivers do. Either it is a lack of understanding, an inability to read bus timetables or because they had an argument with the driver in question and somehow believe they will get their own back this way. Our buses are all equipped with CCTV, which is connected to GPS. It shows a time stamp on the recording of all cameras on board and a realtime link to the depot shows the actual location of the bus. A stupid story like this should be treated with the contempt it deserves.
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