On Sun, 1 Oct 2006 21:50:29 +0200, Jarle H Knudsen
wrote:

On Sun, 1 Oct 2006 19:02:23 +0100, Helen Deborah Vecht wrote:

Jarle H Knudsen typed


On Sun, 01 Oct 2006 01:08:21 +0100, Barry Salter wrote:

"Traffic conditions mean that buses sometimes run early."

I'm a bus driver here in Kristiansand, Norway. When I'm running ealy I
either drive slower or wait at a bus stop to get on time. Is this not
possible in London?

It certainly is possible.

But the reply from Transport for London seems to indicate that they are of
the opinion it's not.

The bus driver is often in an impossible situation. If he is early this
may well be the result of several issues. The bus in front may be late
and thus picking up passengers that the early bus would normally take.
Many London routes have substantial extra time for the busiest times of
day but at certain times of year (e.g. school holidays) the extra
traffic is not there. Therefore buses run early. If I am a passenger on
a bus that is dawdling along and standing at stops for minutes at a time
I get impatient. Now I can perhaps understand what is happening but a
fair proportion of people will shout at the driver "to get a move on".
They just want to get somewhere and it isn't their issue that the
timetable is wrong or the bus in front is late thus making *their* bus
early. Therefore the driver is at risk of verbal abuse if he simply
stops his bus or drives very slowly. I think perhaps Norwegians are a
little more patient!

There are the unacceptable occasions where drivers just simply drive too
fast in order to get to the other terminal or to reach a relief point so
another driver takes over. This is not on and should be dealt with.
Unfortunately this behaviour can happen at times when the performance
monitoring people are not working (as Barry said). However I would still
complain as the level of complaints is a factor in assessing operator
performance. I would also insist that the issues raised in a complaint
are carried forward for discussion / consideration when the route in
question is next reviewed (typically every 5 years as part of the
retendering process). I complained about route 73 and the issue I raised
will be part of the next review - and I shall make sure to check that it
is considered.

--
Paul C


Admits to working for London Underground!