AIBU? Bus driver refused to let me on the bus

That is quite the most insane thing I’ve heard in a while.

Even if there's no audio, it will show OP trying to get on and being turned away. Good evidence she's telling the truth.

Our local buses are bristling with cameras but it's the wild west here!

Really? Do all buses have cameras where you can hear what you're saying to the bus driver?

The convo will be on camera if you are quick.

Report him, that was awful and he was definitely in the wrong.

Something certainly needs reporting here.

I rarely take buses myself but work at a college where a large proportion of students take either a school bus or a public bus and I hear stories like this on a regular basis! Some drivers treat young people especially badly, it seems.

What did the bus company say when you rang?

I would have got on the bus and rang the bus company whilst on it.

This is the most bizarre thing I’ve ever heard in my life.

Obviously if you were able to catch the earlier bus then you would have.

I'm an ex-bus driver.

I'd definitely report him, he's an arse.

Sadly, a lot of my ex-colleagues are like him!

Even if the OP had deliberately let the other bus go to catch this one because it’s quicker….. so what??

the guy was bonkers

Report. It is none of his business which bus you decide to get on.

No way, he’d have let any woman on !

Wtf is this madness? Report.

Sounds like he was on some sort of weird power trip; a lot of bus drivers do weird things like this.

I used to live opposite a bus stop, and used to do my food shop at 6am on Saturday mornings when the big supermarket opened. As I went to get in the car one morning, I saw there was someone at the bus stop and nodded hello as you when there’s only 2 of you in the road early morning.

I got in the car getting comfortable, and saw the lady put her arm out for the bus…he drove straight past her yet I could see he had about 6 or 7 passengers on the bus so it was definitely in service!

I was so enraged for her that I stopped, told her I’d just witnessed what the driver had done and I’d back her if she wanted to put in a complaint. I also gave her a lift to her destination, which was 5 minutes from where I was going, as the next bus wouldn’t have arrived for another 30 minutes.

Edited to add that the woman was a care worker trying to get to her workplace at a hone for the elderly. She would have been late for work and likely reprimanded due to what that bus driver did. Me giving her a lift meant she actually got there 15 minutes early.

I’ve seen and experienced similar and concluded that bus drivers are a law unto themselves. People should always complain about this type of nasty behaviour so the bus company can do something about it.

When I was 11 getting a bus home from school the first few weeks of secondary school, a bunch of older kids were pressing the bell repeatedly and the driver announced that he wouldn't be letting anyone in our uniform off if they pressed it more than once. Well they didn't stop, and so the driver sped past my stop and the next one despite me trying to get his attention and the older kids all laughing and blocking my way. By time he stopped I had no idea where I was and this was pre mobile phones. I eventually got home in tears, I still remember how scary it was 30 years later!

Bus driver is batshit.

Definitely report him. His job is to pick up passengers who are at the bus stop- and let them off at a stop they choose. His attitude is very concerning - what if you were a child coming back from school? Or someone in a wheelchair? Or a parent with a pram? Sounds like he has his own rule system. It’s also silly really as eventually his bus will overtake the other one and then be the ‘first’ one - so he will have to pick up people then.
Very weird and his bosses need to know.

If this happened, the driver is absolutely nuts and doesn’t seem to understand how buses work.

Were both buses run by the same company?

I never heard anything so daft. He sounds unhinged! Definitely report.

YANBU

He makes no sense. It's public transport. If the stop for the bus is your stop then what is he complaining for? You can get on whichever bus you choose.

Report him. He's off his rocker.

It's entirely possible that his bus was being withdrawn to regulate the service if he was running within 3 minutes of the previous bus. This happens quite a lot, particularly on routes with unpredictable traffic conditions, to ensure later services run to timetable. Whilst it doesn't excuse his attitude, he maybe saved you being asked to get off at a stop before your intended one to wait for the next bus.

Same thing happened to me about 2 years ago. I wound up arguing with him and he finally relented when I said I was going to make a complaint. Weird little power trip he was having and I agree with a PP, no way he would have done it if I was a 6ft bloke

I’ve had this a couple of times where our bus will be so late, it changes from a service that visits all the villages to an express service that skips them. I track them on the app and the service disappears off the map.

Once I had a medical appointment for my child and I was also carrying a young baby. I was furious when the someone decided that the bus I needed was going to skip the villages. Luckily I had built in enough contingency time so that waiting for the next bus an hour later we were very late but we could still do the appointment.

While waiting at the bus stop I called to angrily complain (not the first time). They suggested I take a taxi and they would reimburse me, I didn’t feel I could holding a small baby and knowing it was a fast A road most of the way.