"David B" wrote in message ...
"Gaz" wrote in message ...
STOP DRIVING PAST THE ****ING STOPS!
YOU ARE PAID TO DO A JOB, IF YOU DON'T LIKE IT GET OUT!



Nice troll.

Not neccesarily, but he should complain to the company not to us. I
used to be a regular 259 user and their drivers used to play silly
buggers at the Edmonton Green Terminus (4 of of them having a coffee
for 25 minutes ignoring the 12 minute frequency etc). The final straw
was when they put extra short runs on - the bus running all the way to
Kings Cross would go out of the layover bay and off without picking
up, with the one behind picking up but only going to Tottenham - this
after the aforementioned 25 minute delay.

I started sending daily emails to First Crapital's MD (copied to TFL)
with times, fleet numbers and movements on it. Things very very
quickly got fixed.

Ian

"Ian Bailey" wrote in message
om...
"David B" wrote in message
...
"Gaz" wrote in message
...
STOP DRIVING PAST THE ****ING STOPS!
YOU ARE PAID TO DO A JOB, IF YOU DON'T LIKE IT GET OUT!



Nice troll.

Not neccesarily, but he should complain to the company not to us. I
used to be a regular 259 user and their drivers used to play silly
buggers at the Edmonton Green Terminus (4 of of them having a coffee
for 25 minutes ignoring the 12 minute frequency etc). The final straw
was when they put extra short runs on - the bus running all the way to
Kings Cross would go out of the layover bay and off without picking
up, with the one behind picking up but only going to Tottenham - this
after the aforementioned 25 minute delay.

I started sending daily emails to First Crapital's MD (copied to TFL)
with times, fleet numbers and movements on it. Things very very
quickly got fixed.

Ian

Sure I know the problems. I used to drive there for 6 years before doing
what I do now, but swearing on the usenet and ranting "YOU ARE PAID TO DO A
JOB, IF YOU DON'T LIKE IT GET OUT!" is not going to change things. Most bus
drivers in London don't even know what the usenet is. You know I could talk
about the horrible things passengers do, but I won't.

Sure I know the problems. I used to drive there for 6 years before doing
what I do now, but swearing on the usenet and ranting "YOU ARE PAID TO DO A
JOB, IF YOU DON'T LIKE IT GET OUT!" is not going to change things. Most bus
drivers in London don't even know what the usenet is. You know I could talk
about the horrible things passengers do, but I won't.

There are many things most bus drivers in London don't even know
about. Off the top of my head:

* customer service
* the English language
* the names of the roads (or even bits of towns) on their routes
("do you go up Brixton Hill?" [mumbled] "Yeah". Witness the bus go
nowhere near Brixton Hill)
* stopping at bus stops, *and* opening the exit doors (sometimes
remembering just the first is too much for them)

It's a customer service job - if you don't want to deal with customers
then go drive a lorry!

"Matt Ashby" wrote in message
om...


It's a customer service job - if you don't want to deal with customers
then go drive a lorry!

Why are you telling me this for? I don't drive a London bus any more. Do I
really need to recount all the nasty and stupid things people have done on
my bus when I drove in London prior to Winter 2003? I can't be bothered. I
don't live in London anymore and I find the complaining and whinging of
people living in London , tiresome and pathetic. There are people far worse
off.

(Matt Ashby) wrote in message . com...
* stopping at bus stops, *and* opening the exit doors (sometimes
remembering just the first is too much for them)

Most (all) bus doors have an emergency open inside. Next time the driver
can' be arsed to open the doors use it. Thats what I did once. He got well
****ed off but that was his problem not mine. Also all busses have an
emergency engine cut out near the rear. If it looks like a bus is going to sail
past a compulsory stop you're waiting at but he gets stuck in traffic nearby it
could be interesting to see what would happen if someone pushed it.

B2003

"Boltar" wrote in message
om...
(Matt Ashby) wrote in message
. com...
* stopping at bus stops, *and* opening the exit doors (sometimes
remembering just the first is too much for them)

Most (all) bus doors have an emergency open inside. Next time the driver
can' be arsed to open the doors use it. Thats what I did once. He got well
****ed off but that was his problem not mine. Also all busses have an
emergency engine cut out near the rear. If it looks like a bus is going to
sail
past a compulsory stop you're waiting at but he gets stuck in traffic
nearby it
could be interesting to see what would happen if someone pushed it.

B2003

Using the emergency open can also activate the parking brake. So if the bus
isn't at a stop and you feel like getting off in a hurry you will cause
injuries. Emergency engine stops are easy to restart inside the cab. If you
do activate one, don't expect the driver to let you board.

"David B" wrote in message ...
Using the emergency open can also activate the parking brake. So if the bus
isn't at a stop and you feel like getting off in a hurry you will cause

Well I don't think anyone would be dumb enough to open the door while the bus
is moving but we've all been in situations where the bus is stuck in traffic
going nowhere and the bus stop is all of a bus length away but the jobsworth at
the front won't open the doors for reasons best know to himself.

injuries. Emergency engine stops are easy to restart inside the cab. If you
do activate one, don't expect the driver to let you board.

Well if the bus wasn't going to stop anyway whats to lose?

B2003

(Matt Ashby) wrote in message . com...
Sure I know the problems. I used to drive there for 6 years before doing
what I do now, but swearing on the usenet and ranting "YOU ARE PAID TO DO A
JOB, IF YOU DON'T LIKE IT GET OUT!" is not going to change things. Most bus
drivers in London don't even know what the usenet is. You know I could talk
about the horrible things passengers do, but I won't.

There are many things most bus drivers in London don't even know
about. Off the top of my head:

* customer service
* the English language
* the names of the roads (or even bits of towns) on their routes
("do you go up Brixton Hill?" [mumbled] "Yeah". Witness the bus go
nowhere near Brixton Hill)
* stopping at bus stops, *and* opening the exit doors (sometimes
remembering just the first is too much for them)

It's a customer service job - if you don't want to deal with customers
then go drive a lorry!


Although when I lived in London the bus time table seemed to be
something that was put on the bus stop to read while you waited
30minuites for a "every ten minuite" bus service. Some bus drivers
also seemed to forget they were not driving a Vauxhall Nova with a
blonde teenage girl to impress but a big double decker public service
vehicle with 80 people on board.
In their defence the hourly rate is pretty rubbish. And London Buses
(like the rest of the country) have a big problem finding bus drivers
and so anyone with a driving licence and the ability to press a "Door
Open" button and a "Door Closed" button is pretty much got the job. So
its no wonder they aren't exactly bursting with high level of customer
service.
To be honest if they sacked all the bus drivers in London with no
customer service skills then I have a feeling there would be very
little in the way of buses. The soloution is of course to employ
people at bus stations in customer service roles. Given out infomation
in a polite, helpful manner. And to make sure bus stops have enough
infomation so you don't need to ask the driver anything apart from
"pound".
And in bus drivers defence. 30 people trying to get on a bus at once
and your trying to take fares and check passes. Kids who want to get
on the bus and not pay anything. Threats of physical voilence. Other
drivers who seem unable to see big red double decker buses. Idiots on
the road (the last time I was on a bus in East London some idiot
parked on double yellow lines about 10 feet from traffic light
junction texting someone on his mobile phone. Great he pulled over
first. But the bus was stuck behind him even though the lights were on
green) And not to mention the fact of congestion. If your 30mins
behind what you should be. And you see someone standing at a bus stop.
If they don't signal do you pull over just incase or stop and then
wait to go back into traffic and add another 2 or 3 minuites to your
lateness.

On 26 Jan 2004 08:38:11 -0800, (CJG Now
Thankfully Living In The North) wrote:

(Matt Ashby) wrote in message . com...
If your 30mins
behind what you should be. And you see someone standing at a bus stop.
If they don't signal do you pull over just incase or stop and then
wait to go back into traffic and add another 2 or 3 minuites to your
lateness.

Does the driver have any discretion here? Doesn't he have to stop at
all "compulsory" (white background) bus stops? What exactly are the
rules? In practice they never seem to follow the TfL definitions:

http://www.transportforlondon.gov.uk..._general.shtml

(Boltar) wrote
(Matt Ashby) wrote
* stopping at bus stops, *and* opening the exit doors (sometimes
remembering just the first is too much for them)

Most (all) bus doors have an emergency open inside. Next time the driver
can' be arsed to open the doors use it. Thats what I did once. He got well
****ed off but that was his problem not mine.

Did this a few weeks ago when a driver (the famous Connex driver with
the black metal studded fingerless gloves) deliberately rear-ended an
Audi who had cut him up. Since we had already crashed the bus was well
and truly stationary, but the driver said he wouldn't open the doors
because we all had to wait for the police to arrive.

After I'd asked nicely twice for him to open the doors, I hit the
emergency button. The bus driver took this as his queue to jump out of
his cab and shout at me for opening the doors as I walked away.

Once again, guys: it's a customer service position!

Obviously I wouldn't advocate hitting either the emergency door
release or the engine cut-off if a bus was moving.