Park and Ride bus drivers are spiteful
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Although parking can be a problem for many drivers in town and cities, there are many Park and Ride facilities around the country. They are very useful except for one thing – from my experience, Park and Ride bus drivers are the most spiteful in the country compared with other bus drivers. On one occasion whilst doing the Christmas shopping in Preston I was with my wife and I had both our tickets. We were getting slightly overloaded and so I thought I would nip to the car with it and come back empty handed to do some more shopping. |
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I got on the bus and tore off one ticket to which the driver asks me for the other ticket. Thinking he was curious of something I did but he wouldn’t return the ticket to me. I asked for it back but he argued that if I was going back to the car and the other person wasn’t with me the other person wouldn’t need it and so he was confiscating it. When I pointed out that I was going back to the car with the shopping, and then back into town to meet my wife and that we would be travelling together back later on, he still refused to return the unused ticket! |
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I put the shopping in the boot and went back to town and explained to my wife what had happened. On the return journey I didn’t have a ticket for my wife and so I told the driver of that bus what had happened the first time. He was reluctant to accept the story and let her travel so we didn’t bother travelling back to the car in their stinking buses and I have never used Preston’s buses since! I park down the side streets which I am entitled to do and won’t park in the car parks. On another occasion when I was in Oxford, I was walking towards a bus stop where an Oxford Bus for Water Eaton Park and Ride was letting passengers on. As I got to the bus the driver closed the doors and whilst I was waiting for the door to be opened the driver read his newspaper and after about five minutes he put his paper down and started up. There were about another five passengers waiting behind me but he drove off without letting any of us waiting at the bus stop get on and he saw me as I made eye-to-eye contact before he drove off so it wasn’t that he didn’t see me. If he didn’t observe me he shouldn’t be driving a public service vehicle. By: Mousey |
Comments from visitors
Getting up at four A.M to go to work
Doing split shifts
Working late nights till 11.30pm, or later
Working at weekends
Putting up with Joe public
I think anyone would be grumpy
I expect the stock reply “if they don’t like it they should get another job”
Easier said than done
Doing split shifts
Working late nights till 11.30pm, or later
Working at weekends
Putting up with Joe public
I think anyone would be grumpy
I expect the stock reply “if they don’t like it they should get another job”
Easier said than done
-10
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Rubbish bus service buses just turn up if and when they want to. I am disabled and have a bus pass. Often drivers are rude and not prepared to have the slightest bit of consideration for where and even giving you time. They always use the term people like you, well more people like myself should say tougth luck and should not be prepared to put up with this
-6
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Funny, I work in Oxford and use the Park & Ride at least several times a week and have always found the drivers helpful and polite. Ok, I know where I am going and have a pass, so don't do more than say hello and how are you (you get to know them after all seeing them on a daily basis), but I also observe them dealing with then endless tourists who seem to mistake them for the local tourist office and ask them numerous questions which are nothing to do with the bus service. That and the people who ask if the bus is going to the city centre (the foot high letters on the digital display on the front of the bus are obviously not a clue - and no they do not have sight problems!!)
+2
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HA there are some people I tell you I do, they park and RIDE in those park and ride carparks, I had to cover my eyes, thats not right , I should say
+12
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Hey you folks, whats going on with your buses? Come to Salisbury and try our park and ride buses. Our drivers are polite, helpful and considerate drivers,most of the passengers respond to this attitude with a nice thank you when they leave the bus. And we have pretty well behaved teenagers who know how to travel sensibly.
-7
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Why is it that transit riders will frequently wait ten or fifteen minutes doing nothing and then look for their fare or ask the driver about the bus route after boarding? Even if the rider knows the bus route and has his fare ready, why will he sit surrounded by trash at the stop rather than pick it up and place it in a convenient trash can? Have you ever heard a woman say, "Ooh, look at that cute guy surrounded by garbage near the trash can ! "? Me neither.
+6
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Perfect Passenger - 4-Dec-08 03:08
I live in Pudsey quite close to the new FTR (means future in text lingo) bus terminus. Its a new type bendy bus with full air con and is fully accessible. Sounds good so far but there is a more sinister non green side to the new service. I assume a requirement of the job of driver and conductor (pilot and host) is smoking and therefore they both stand on the pavement leaving the engine running and the fog lights and air con on.
The maths is tricky when calculating the MPG for a stationary bus and who would the police prosecute for the illegal fog lights when the bus is empty?
The maths is tricky when calculating the MPG for a stationary bus and who would the police prosecute for the illegal fog lights when the bus is empty?
0
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Mr P Norfolk - 30-Oct-08 15:51
Ashley aged 11... not all bus drivers are evil, there are some excellent drivers with good customer service attitudes as well as fantastic driving skills. I speak on behalf of other bus drivers who are all tarred with the same brush, that they're all bad mannered, mean, spiteful and unhelpful.
As for the original poster... Preston Bus offer great park and ride services. I have found most of their drivers most polite, friendly and helpful. Which I'll go into below. As for the Preston Bus P&R service, I believe you pay for the service into Preston and back. The return fare is £1.20 per person. This covers you for the outward journey into Preston and the return journey back. If you need to use it again, pay another £1.20. Hardly extortionate rates in my eyes.
I had gone to Preston to ride on their buses. I had asked for a day rider type ticket but only had a £20 note with me. The driver issued my ticket but said he had no change. I did worry at this point but he then told me he can issue me with another ticket so that I could go to the information booth and they'd give me my change. Not all drivers, anyway, would have gone to this length to ensure my satisfaction. I think for some, it would've been too much hassle.
Another driver, this time female, really did drive fantastically. Gave the bus engine a good thrash but I felt safe throughout the journey and upon my return to Preston, I told her she'd handled the bus well and that I really liked her driving. She was a bit bemused that a passenger would say such a comment.
As for the original poster... Preston Bus offer great park and ride services. I have found most of their drivers most polite, friendly and helpful. Which I'll go into below. As for the Preston Bus P&R service, I believe you pay for the service into Preston and back. The return fare is £1.20 per person. This covers you for the outward journey into Preston and the return journey back. If you need to use it again, pay another £1.20. Hardly extortionate rates in my eyes.
I had gone to Preston to ride on their buses. I had asked for a day rider type ticket but only had a £20 note with me. The driver issued my ticket but said he had no change. I did worry at this point but he then told me he can issue me with another ticket so that I could go to the information booth and they'd give me my change. Not all drivers, anyway, would have gone to this length to ensure my satisfaction. I think for some, it would've been too much hassle.
Another driver, this time female, really did drive fantastically. Gave the bus engine a good thrash but I felt safe throughout the journey and upon my return to Preston, I told her she'd handled the bus well and that I really liked her driving. She was a bit bemused that a passenger would say such a comment.
-2
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Youthful Griper - 15-Jan-08 16:36
When you're on their buses you don't like it when someone else is in charge and they can tell you what to do rather than the other way round.
Most customers who I see like to think they are in charge and inevitably like to dish out sarcasm and other forms of objectionable behaviour at shop or office staff. I think it's fantastic that when you people get to the bus you have to drop the drama queen act and get back to the real world. Because if you don't the driver can refuse to let you board or throw you off anyway!
I love nothing more than to see bus drivers puncturing the bubble of self-importance that most of you stupid passengers display! It's not the drivers who are spiteful it's you the passenger talking down to people again - you dick!
Most customers who I see like to think they are in charge and inevitably like to dish out sarcasm and other forms of objectionable behaviour at shop or office staff. I think it's fantastic that when you people get to the bus you have to drop the drama queen act and get back to the real world. Because if you don't the driver can refuse to let you board or throw you off anyway!
I love nothing more than to see bus drivers puncturing the bubble of self-importance that most of you stupid passengers display! It's not the drivers who are spiteful it's you the passenger talking down to people again - you dick!
-15
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oh my word! I invite you all to stagecoach in hull buses. what a joke. bullying, nasty and thick bus drivers. they smoke on the Bus, use mobile phones whilst driving and and injure passagers when they feel like it for fun. the classic being putting the foot on brakes when and elderly or disabled person gets off. they are constantly leaving passagers at the stops and driving past, always late and I just hate the objectionable idiots. I'm late for school because of them. is it a special requirement that all bus drivers in hull are evil??
-3
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ashley age 11 - 19-Dec-07 04:11
Bus drivers are cut from the same cloth as the nasty, evil, idiotic, greedy, spiteful and disgruntled girls (and boys) who behave in the threatening manner you describe. Until we totally revist and rehash our laws, acknowledging that people now are not the people they were 40/60/80 years ago and hence not just alllowing, but compeling the courts to severly punish anti-social behaviour, things will get worse and worse. The protection afforded scumbag kids as well is ridiculous.
+2
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That's All Folks - 18-Dec-07 13:48
I know, Prince, its a passive acceptance. No one wants to disrupt their own day.
Bus drivers have a responsibility to keep their passengers safe (by not crashing, etc) and that should extend to physical safely while onboard. I would never expect them to jump between me and a knife, but they have communication devices for a reason and should be contacting authorities. Its sad. I haven't taken the bus since. I thought I was being green and helping the planet by leaving the car at home, but I now want to focus on keeping myself safe.
Bus drivers have a responsibility to keep their passengers safe (by not crashing, etc) and that should extend to physical safely while onboard. I would never expect them to jump between me and a knife, but they have communication devices for a reason and should be contacting authorities. Its sad. I haven't taken the bus since. I thought I was being green and helping the planet by leaving the car at home, but I now want to focus on keeping myself safe.
-7
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SLS, similar situation in Sheffield on the tram. There are girls that spit and hurl abuse at others on the tram and everybody sits there pretending to mind their own business, no one intervenes.
I can understand this to a certain degree but not when there are policeman on the tram as there's usually at least two on their way to work - and you know they are policeman under their jacket. They do nothing.
I can understand this to a certain degree but not when there are policeman on the tram as there's usually at least two on their way to work - and you know they are policeman under their jacket. They do nothing.
-8
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Matt,
You seem like a mamby-pamby softy and it's because of you, yes you, all the oxygen thieves, that this is the way the country is.... Finished.
Grow a spine will yer for God's sake. Buck up and meet fire with fire.
To answer your question, until you come up with a solution (people want solutions not problems) the answer is yes, 'You have to crack on with it' so, give us the answer Matt, please, were'll waiting on you! Cmon Matt!!
You seem like a mamby-pamby softy and it's because of you, yes you, all the oxygen thieves, that this is the way the country is.... Finished.
Grow a spine will yer for God's sake. Buck up and meet fire with fire.
To answer your question, until you come up with a solution (people want solutions not problems) the answer is yes, 'You have to crack on with it' so, give us the answer Matt, please, were'll waiting on you! Cmon Matt!!
+4
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I had a knife held to myself and an elderly passenger on a bus. It was a group of school girls with a switch blade who waved it at us and threatened to 'slice [us] open' after the elderly gentleman asked the girls to not swear so loud in front of children. He was polite and nice about it but they just snapped, about six of them, and began screaming and verbally attacking us both while waving the knife about. THe whole bus went silent and no one did anything - not that I'd expect anyone to jump in, but at least call the police or something. I could see the bus driver watching in his mirror. The gentleman got up and walked to the front of the bus and I followed. We got off at the next stop (as did the driver for a cigarette) I asked the driver if he contacted the police and he said 'no, there's nothing I can do. I'm not allowed to leave my seat [see above re: cigarette - what?]. Sorry.' He didn't even radio to get us help. THe girls were left on the bus, giving us the finger and smug smiles as it drove away. I paid for a taxi to get myself and the nice man into town. The driver didn't even care that we were threatened with a knife. I contacted the police but there is no evidence of anything. Sick.
-5
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Martin,
You sound like an incredibly irritating chap! 'You have to crack on with it' you say. So, what does that mean? That passengers have to put up with a bunch of psychotic weirdos who earn a living by driving buses, being rude to passengers and generally exuding a 'creepy nastiness' that should be like a flashing beacon to all psychiatric nurses and doctors in the area.
Get real and take less of the happy pills!
You sound like an incredibly irritating chap! 'You have to crack on with it' you say. So, what does that mean? That passengers have to put up with a bunch of psychotic weirdos who earn a living by driving buses, being rude to passengers and generally exuding a 'creepy nastiness' that should be like a flashing beacon to all psychiatric nurses and doctors in the area.
Get real and take less of the happy pills!
+5
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I use the Cambridge Park and Ride and all the guys n gals on this route are spot on!
Just last week I get on the bus to find I'd left my wallet on the car seat. The driver said 'no probs mate, I'll wait here while you go and fetch it' which I thought was damn decent of him.
This is a bit of a silly gripe as there are grumpy people in all forms of work. You have to crack on with it
Just last week I get on the bus to find I'd left my wallet on the car seat. The driver said 'no probs mate, I'll wait here while you go and fetch it' which I thought was damn decent of him.
This is a bit of a silly gripe as there are grumpy people in all forms of work. You have to crack on with it
-7
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Have you complained to the bus company at all?
The bus services I have used thus far have seemed to be okay. I do not think I’ve come across a rude bus driver yet, but do not use them too often.
I usually greet them as I consider their job to be an important role, and certainly not easy. Perhaps try again with the bus service and complain if you’re not happy.
The bus services I have used thus far have seemed to be okay. I do not think I’ve come across a rude bus driver yet, but do not use them too often.
I usually greet them as I consider their job to be an important role, and certainly not easy. Perhaps try again with the bus service and complain if you’re not happy.
+3
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You creeps. Bus-driving is a tough and thankless job. You think bus-driving is a living? Think again. Starvation rates and long hours, thankless passengers. You creeps who can afford cars just drive them and yourselves over the cliff.
-12
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Busmans' holiday - 4-Dec-07 18:37
I agree with the gripe writer completely. I take the bus daily because my husband uses the car to get to work further away (I could write a novel of things that have happened on buses!). Once my husband, young daughter, and myself were going into town and we opted to take the bus even though it was pouring rain. We waited at a stop and the bus came, opened its doors, and the driver said this stop wasn't in use anymore because there was a new one up the street (with no removal of the sign or notification on the old stop). He then shut the doors and drove off, leaving us (including a toddler) in the rain. Why couldn't he have let us on? There was a sign and he'd already stopped, yet left just to be a jerk.
I complained to the bus company and when nothing was done wrote to the city coucil, newspaper, and local tv station (these emails included a compliation of bad experiences). I emailed everyone I could think of. I got not a single response. If any other business treated its customers like that, it would go bust. But because people will always need transportation, it goes unnoticed.
I complained to the bus company and when nothing was done wrote to the city coucil, newspaper, and local tv station (these emails included a compliation of bad experiences). I emailed everyone I could think of. I got not a single response. If any other business treated its customers like that, it would go bust. But because people will always need transportation, it goes unnoticed.
-6
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