Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Bus Route W5 - Report by Diamond Geezer Blog.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by John McMullan on
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"Our jobsworth driver's having none of it and pulls away, only to get stuck behind a parking car while the abandoned passenger glares in vain through the window." - why do bus drivers do this? Surely the £1.50 charge for riding the bus is worth it? I mean an Uber driver would jump at it. I appreciate that there's the possibility that it will hold up the bus but from my experience it's more to make the driver feel powerful.
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Permalink Reply by StephenBln on
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Experience, albeit many years ago, tells me that it is most probably a reflex. Nothing whatsoever to do with the passenger involved, but done after earlier experiences of waiting, stopping, picking up passengers and not being thanked, passengers often being rude and not respecting the driver. It's a 'Teufelskreis' of nastiness and lack of respect on both parts. The fare doesn't go directly into the driver's pocket as per Über, so why should he/she care.?
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Permalink Reply by Gordon T on
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My TfL bus driver acquaintance tells me drivers are instructed that once they've closed the doors and moved the bus - even a few inches - they have departed the stop and must continue on their way. Some make exceptions to this. Some stick strictly to the rules, and a few are 'avin' a larf like the one DG describes.
As for friendliness, I use the W5 often enough to be able to say that, unusually for a London bus route, most people say 'Thank you' to the driver as they get off. That they're single door buses helps, of course, but it is for London an unusually sociable route.
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I get the W5 sometimes and I too have noticed that nearly everyone thanks the driver 'Thank you driver' are usually our exact words! I think it's because it has a hail and ride section.
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Some years ago I was on a 91 bus all the way from central London to Crouch End. I found myself sitting next to one of the old-timer drivers who was mentoring a new driver on the route. She was clearly bored out of her skull and spent the entire journey talking to me. She told me about all the stuff in the driver's cab that monitors their performance constantly. Also that yes, in principle they get in trouble if they take on passengers after moving away from the bus stop. Some drivers will take the risk if the likelihood of video surveillance is low. This happens regularly at the bus station on the Seven Sisters side of Finsbury Park: the traffic lights are a couple of metres ahead of the stop so the bus draws forward marginally, stops at the red light, then on most occasions refuses to open the doors to frustrated passengers because they know that the bosses are watching them.
As for thanking the driver - I think when you get on and off a bus past the driver, as with the W5, it comes naturally to thank them. I live near the end stop of the 91 in Crouch End and I always used to thank the driver when I left the bus at the end of his route. Now with the new buses I realise that I don't because there is less awareness of the driver, especially if you get on and off at the rear of the bus. Another reason to dislike those buses.
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I have taught my children to say thank you quite loudly to the bus driver and wave as they leave but sadly I'm now seeing this as a bad thing to do as it draws attention to them leaving a bus.
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Permalink Reply by Maren Meinhardt on
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What an absolutely lovely report about my favourite London bus route. Thank you!
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