ok, people, only read this if you are lined up for a rather boring sunday afternoon, here is my letter to Ken, any feed back would be greatfully appreciated!
Dear Mr Livingstone,
I am writing to you due to recent events that have occurred whilst using the cities transport system. I have written this letter to you in the hope that it may be of interest and relevance, you are a strong campaigner for public transport and are keen for people to make use of it. I would like to tell you why I will not be using buses. I have been intimidated, reduced to tears and embarrassed too many times on buses, not by other customers, but by the people who should be providing me with a service, the bus drivers. They are all too often rude, impatient and unhelpful, and it seems that there is no consequence to their actions, and therefore, no reason for them to stop this behaviour.
I have recently given birth to my first baby, I am currently on maternity leave and my partner has returned to work. I am keen not to be isolated, having recently moved to a new area where I do not know anyone. I have been trying to get out and about every day, if only for a short time, and if only to the local shops. I have been using the buses regularly, they are a cheaper form of transport, and do have the facility for accommodating uncollapsed buggies that I have found invaluable. However, in these few short weeks since my son was born I have encountered more problems than I could of imagined possible. Below I shall outline the issues I have.
Drivers have complained about how long it will take me to load up the pram on the bus.
A bus driver has tried to stop me crossing a road where there are no traffic lights or crossings, but where they were stopped at road works traffic lights, by pulling up as close as he could to the bus in front of him. When I pointed out to him that I did not believe this to be necessary, he shouted out abuse to me.
On a route we have never travelled on before, a Routemaster bus pulled up and the conductor refused to let me board, collapse me pram, or indeed assist me with this. Instead, he told me that it was ?tough? and I would have to wait another fifteen minutes for the next bus.
I am unable to load my pram up on to the bus at the front, as the aisle is too narrow for my travel system. On requesting to the driver that he let me on at the back, the driver refused, saying that the CCTV is on and will see I hadn?t paid. When I pointed out that the CCTV would then see me travel to the front of the bus to pay, he still refused. I was left waiting for the next one in the rain.
The worst incident, and the event which has prompted me to write this letter happened last week when I was trying to load up the pram on the back of the bus, where I believed the driver knew what I was doing. It transpires that he did not, and, to put his intent pleasantly, warned me off doing the same again. He then criticised me to other passengers, in the end telling one that I obviously did not give a (please excuse the language) shit about my baby. I strongly remonstrated with him about this, he told me I could have killed my baby, which I most definitely do not believe to be the case. He refused to apologise, refused to give his name or anyway of identifying the bus. He laughed at me when I requested these details.
I have complained about the last incident outlined above, and have received an apology from the Bus Company. However, they claim that despite knowing the time, date direction of travel and pick up point, as well as a description of the driver that they are unable to identify him. Since the time of making the complaint I have found the ticket for the journey in question, and will wait to see if this changes the situation. I do feel however, that insufficient effort has been put in so far to identifying this driver. He verbally assaulted me and intimidated me out of using buses alone again. What is to stop him from behaving like this again? Why should other members of the public be treated so rudely and with so little respect?
I work for the NHS, I am a nurse and if a complaint were filed against me I would be fully investigated and, I would like to think, dealt with fairly and appropriately. If I was to treat a patient in the same way as this driver treated me, I would expect to loose my job. I appreciate that bus drivers are hard to recruit, but so are nurses. We are both providing a service to the public and representing an organisation. To swear at our clients, intimidate them, laugh at them when they ask for information and to talk about them to other clients is not an acceptable way for the public to be treated.
I am therefore writing to you to put this point across, and to see if you might consider investigating how complaints are dealt with. I am aware that there is a complaint?s ombudsman to refer complaints to, and I will be using this channel if I am not satisfied or do not get any response from the bus company with regard to the ticket number. However, I do not feel that they should have to be used. I think that the bus company themselves should be regulation enough for their employees. I hope you feel that I have made some relevant points in this letter and that actions against drivers negative attitudes towards the public, and indeed