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.