To ask you to be nice...

[BusDrivers]

... to bus drivers.

I am a young woman bus driver.

A lot of people complain about and to bus drivers...

1. We have no control over traffic, if we're late then 99% of the time, it's not our fault.

2. If a bus breaks down, there's nothing we can do about it. We are drivers not engineers.

3. We don't know every timetable for every route. Not even the timetable for the number we are on... we have a 'running board' with our specific bus times on it, that's all.

4. We have so many rude people getting on the bus all day long that the smile that was there at the start of the day probably won't be there by the end of the day so please don't take it personally if we are a bit grumpy.

Just don't be one of those bus drivers that flings their bus out in front of cars without warning and expects them to stop. The niceness goes both ways. (Personally I've always believed in thanking a bus driver when I get off but I doubt that happens much these days)

1,2 and 3 - fine. 4- not fine. You shouldn't be grumpy with customers, regardless.

Personally I always wait for people to sit down, especially infirm / old / prams / kids. (I know a lot of drivers don't but they are the true arseholes)

It's funny about the pulling out because of the blind spots, we need to pull slightly out to be able to see the road and people think we are pushing in.

And trust me, once you've been ignored and shouted at for things out of your control all day, it gets you down. (Happens a ridiculous amount more than I ever thought before I started!)

What interests me is your training . Are you told that you need to brake gently before bus stops ? because so many bus drivers seem to drive on their brakes and accelerators like car drivers. It can be dangerous . even if you're fit enough to hang on to the handles!! if not I've seen old people thrown to the floor of the bus because of inconsiderate driving (i'm sure you are not like that!!).

I’m feeling the bus driver love today as one stopped to let me go onto the road in front of him as the pavement was blocked by a van.

I had a pushchair so couldn’t just squeeze through. 7 cars passed me even though they could see I was stuck. I’ll give three cheers for bus drivers today!

We are taught to drive to certain standards yes...
And then given a timetable that can be impossible to stick to so either we stay on time and drive faster or we get later and later and drive the soft and gentle approach.

I will admit I am the 'stay on time' driver rather than the soft and gentle approach however in 8 years I have never thrown anyone out of their chair. But I do wait for people to sit down and if I have a full bus with people standing then I drive slower.

NewMum - there are some nice drivers! 😁

I like bus drivers. They regularly stay back to let me out of a side road. Otherwise I could be waiting five minutes for a gap in the traffic.

I did wonder if it was the 'management's' fault. They can't control the traffic My dm won't go on a bus on her own now because of all the jerkiness, it's counter productive because the owners will lose money.

Though does the council pay them a lump sum anyway for the over 60s free passes? Me, cynical??

I don't use buses but I used to. I'm always nice to them. They're so much bigger than most other vehicles and they need more time and space to manoeuvre out; certainly more than a car. If I can see a gap that they could get out of, I'll flash them out. The occasional driver behind can be impatient but they're going to be held at the light further up anyway.

It's amusing when said bus then sails past the line of cars in the bus lane.

Buses are more environmentally friendly, more so than little old me in my car and the passengers have places to get to also.

I'm always polite to bus drivers but sometimes the jerkiness makes me feel sick. (it's hard to say thank you to someone who has made you feel sick!!).

Isn't it in the highway code now to give way to buses?

I love going on the bus on the very rare occasion I do. Our bus drivers are very surly and no hint of acknowledgement when you get on and tap your card. So I’d love to have you and hopefully we’d say good morning.

If you are in London refer the pisstakers to the excellent app, Citymapper, it gives all the options and times on all forms of transport. I even know it would take me 277 minutes to walk to Waterloo! Not sure if it’s also good for other areas but probably it is.

Yes I LOVE the bus lanes esp. in London where they really DO work. I remember sailing past a big flash Bentley in a traffic jam and me and some other passengers laughed and laughed when I said "For all their money, we'll get there first!".

And I once saw a bus driver doing the school time run, sitting at traffic lights reading his book! Sadly I didn’t have time to get the details.

Fluffy It's ALWAYS been in the highway code to give way to buses!

I don’t think being grumpy is particularly acceptable. I work long shifts on the front line of the nhs. I get verbal abuse numerous times a day. I can not be ‘grumpy’ to patients and their relatives. That is unacceptable

There are a couple of bus drivers who sing it really cheers up the journey 😁

(Personally I've always believed in thanking a bus driver when I get off but I doubt that happens much these days) Still happens round our way. Pretty well without fail.

No it's not unreasonable to expect passengers to be polite to bus drivers.
Equally though I've come across a lot of very rude bus drivers. One in particular who refused to lower the step for my little boy's wheelchair.

Yes In the countryside they say thank you and the drivers are friendly and smile!!!!.

In London hardly ever. BUT and it's big BUT My Oyster had just run out when I boarded a bus in Nth London and the very nice driver said don't worry and let me board!!!!!

Always say “cheers drive”

I'm nice to bus drivers, because I'm nice to (almost) everyone. I'm polite. I say please and thank you. I don't take out my frustrations about extreme delays and buses not turning up at all on the driver of the bus that does eventually turn up. I have offered before to be a witness if needed when a fellow passenger was massively abusive to a bus driver. And I've seen plenty of fellow passengers acting like complete dicks.

That said, you can't expect people to respond positively if you're being grumpy, and I agree with @Ubercornsdiscoball. And there are plenty of bus drivers who do act like absolute arseholes and as if every passenger is a massive inconvenience to them.

On the York P&R (which is the only bus I ever use these days) EVERYONE says 'thank you' to the bus driver as they get off - it sounds a bit llike a school bus trip some days!

The bus drivers in my town are lovely. They're always courteous, they're helpful, mainly cheerful (but who is cheerful all of the time?). We walk most places, but sometimes I can't manage very well on foot. I'd struggle without the bus service and I'm very glad of it.
There's one woman I see more often than not when I'm on the bus, who does NOTHING but complain about the service, the driver, the route. She's very vocal and keeps up a general running commentary on the driver/driving for the duration of the journey. It's embarrassing and I feel sorry for the drivers, it must be draining for them.