Bus behaviour

[Chemenger]

I used to drive to work but have swapped to getting the bus, so much less stressful and a nice walk at either end. It’s decades since I last regularly commuted by bus. I have observed some, to me, odd behaviour which I’m hoping MN might shed light on.

Not sitting down. Often in the evening the bus is quite busy but there are usually seats downstairs and always upstairs, yet there are always people standing, in the wheelchair/pram space and near the door. They are in the way of people getting on and off and make it difficult to see what stop we’re at when the windows are steamed up and you can only see out of the windscreen. Even when the bus is nearly empty and there are double seats free these people don’t sit. They’re standing for at least 20 minutes. They huff and puff if a pram comes on but still stand in the aisle rather than sitting. Almost all of these people have been men.

The most annoying aspect of this is that a couple of times the bus has gone past my stop without stopping, I assume because the standing area is packed, yet I could see there were seats upstairs. I assume the driver thought the bus was full. Worse, I’ve seen a driver refuse to let a pram on because the bus was full, yet when I got on there were seats, it was just that about 8 people had chosen to stand for no reason.

Some people have bad backs and other conditions which make sitting uncomfortable. If you are taller there may not be enough room to sit comfortably. Maybe they don't want to sit next to a stranger. Perhaps they prefer a specific seat and will stand rather than sit in another. You should complain to the bus company if you can see there are empty seats but the driver doesn't stop.

I used to get this bus where the drivers clearly resented stopping. You sometimes had to walk into the road waving your arms. When another company took over the route this stopped being a problem.

I did complain to the bus company about the buses not stopping and, to be fair, it hasn’t happened again.

It’s not sitting next to a stranger that’s the problem because they stay standing when they could have a whole seat to themselves.

Sometimes it looks like there are seats upstairs but there are not as the seats are occupied by children.

That’s possible but I’ve never seen more than a couple of children on this bus, and I’m on it until it’s pretty much empty.

Maybe you need to make it more obvious you are flagging down the bus at your stop?

A lot of drivers don’t like stopping at the stop before mine so they just keep driving and ignore the complaints from people who wanted to get off there. I think it’s because that stop is on a narrow uphill and they can’t be bothered.

As for the standing, I have also noticed this and it is usually young men. I suspect they don’t want to sit next to strangers.

I see that everyday as well. Yesterday a young woman was standing right at the rear doors, getting in everyone's way. Ridiculous. And the people who don't take off their backpacks, not be big ones, again just getting into way and bumping people. It's thoughtless.