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buses remember to put your hand out

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jim453533

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this is directly taken off arrivas website

Catching the bus
If you’ve downloaded the Arriva Bus app, you can use the live map function you can track exactly where your bus is on route to save you from waiting at the bus stop. This function is also available on the website.

Once at the stop, as the bus approaches, you will see the number and final destination of the service on the front. To stop the bus, simply hold out your arm to signal to the driver and they will pull into the stop. Most of our buses have little or no entrance step, so it’s easy to get on even with a wheelchair, buggy or shopping trolley.
 
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mmh

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I believe manors cost nothing and is a sign of respect. It amazes me how well behaved children are and how polite they are and yet a person who has been around for over 60 years can not even say thanks when they get off the bus.

For what little it's worth, I agree with you. If you want a bus to stop, you raise your hand, when you get on you say "thank you", and when you get off you say thanks too. It's just common courtesy. Works exactly the same everywhere. Nothing to do with being in X or Y city.
 

Be3G

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Lets talk about people running for the bus when they are not even at the bus stop you are expecting the bus to wait. Time he or she has not got. You are also delaying all the passengers who wish to get to work on time they do not wish to be late and have to explain to their manager why they were late.

If I run for a bus, I am not expecting the bus to wait, I'm just hoping that perhaps the bus driver will wait for me if they've got time to. If they don't, it's no biggie (unless the bus was running early).
 

Mag_seven

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I've always stuck my hand out for a bus since I was knee high to a grasshopper - its definitely a UK thing!
 

philthetube

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I can't see why you wouldn't stick your hand out, why risk it sailing past.
 

PeterC

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SNIP

It would be sensible for a bus driver to stop if there is someone waiting at a stop that's served by only one route, even if the person doesn't hold out an arm. And yes, there is a certain difficulty at a stop served by several routes, if buses on more than one route arrive at the same time. That's always been the case. Sometimes, as a result, the bus you want goes past. Annoying, but there we are. There's no need for the degree of spleen and rage shown by one or two posters.
At London frequencies one bus failing to stop is no big deal, at typical inter-urban frequencies one bus failing to stop will probably take up all the time that you allowed for traffic delays, possibly more.
 

Bletchleyite

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At London frequencies one bus failing to stop is no big deal, at typical inter-urban frequencies one bus failing to stop will probably take up all the time that you allowed for traffic delays, possibly more.

Indeed, it's more than unfriendly, it's grossly unprofessional. At a stop where there is already a bus stopped, you have to assume someone *is* trying to signal you unless you can see that they are not.
 

robk23oxf

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I did the kind thing this morning and picked someone up who hadn't reached the bus stop yet. Of course I'd just gone past the stop and assumed this person was just a passer by until she started waving at me; I pulled over and when she caught up with me the first thing she asked was 'did not see her'? Of course I mentioned that I was on time and she wasn't at the stop, when people treat me like that I do wonder why I do them a favour?
 

LowLevel

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At the risk of Thread Drift.... what about the stop bell?

Where I grew up unless you couldn't physically stand up no one touched the stop bell. Accepted practice was to head down the front of the bus, wrap one's arm around the pole where the ticket printer was attached and say 'next one please mate'. In the summer the drivers routinely drove around with the doors open so it was always interesting wondering if you were going to fall out but I don't think anyone did.

What *did* go wrong once was the bus had a minor collision and a girl from my school sadly was catapulted straight down the aisle and into/through the windscreen - she was seriously injured if I recall correctly.

Where I now live it's always the bell.

Some of the drivers on this thread give me the distinct impression they require an urgent holiday or an alternative career, it's like being in a railway mess room :lol:
 

Bletchleyite

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On the Little White Buses around Ormskirk it used to be considered the height of rudeness to use the bell, you went to the driver and asked him (it was always "him" back then) to stop. On hail and ride routes in MK, on the other hand (not many of those left, fixed stops with raised platforms have mostly been installed), it's always been "press the bell and the driver will stop at the first sensible and safe place with no heavy braking".

I got told off for using the bell on a Blackpool tram once, apparently despite it looking like a bus bell it was for the conductor only.
 

krus_aragon

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At the risk of Thread Drift.... what about the stop bell?

Where I grew up unless you couldn't physically stand up no one touched the stop bell. Accepted practice was to head down the front of the bus, wrap one's arm around the pole where the ticket printer was attached and say 'next one please mate'. In the summer the drivers routinely drove around with the doors open so it was always interesting wondering if you were going to fall out but I don't think anyone did.

Some time at the end of last century I was travelling on the bus with my grandmother, and she was very specific in telling my brother and me not to move until the bus had stopped completely. The end result of this is that after the bus stopped, the driver couldn't see anyone stood up or already getting up, and proceeded to move off. Cue a "coo-ee" from my Nain to get him to pull in again!
 

GusB

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Where I grew up unless you couldn't physically stand up no one touched the stop bell. Accepted practice was to head down the front of the bus, wrap one's arm around the pole where the ticket printer was attached and say 'next one please mate'. In the summer the drivers routinely drove around with the doors open so it was always interesting wondering if you were going to fall out but I don't think anyone did.

I don't think it's drifting too much. It was a similar situation around here too. Nobody ever used the stop bell, and anyone who did was given strange looks! The situation has changed since (although I don't know exactly when), and I ended up being overcarried once because I wasn't aware that it was now required to ring the bell. That driver got a flea in his ear because I was halfway to the next village before he stopped, and it was obvious that I wished to alight before my intended stop.

When I moved to Aberdeen to become a student, it was a mostly dual-door fleet, and accepted practice to use the bell, so there are clearly local variations.

To the OP, I don't disagree that it's good practice to hail the bus you want, but if you wish to enforce this policy, it should be made absolutely clear by providing appropriate signage on bus stops, and equivalent posters on the bus advising that use of the bell is required when you wish to alight. There's no point in tucking this info away on part of a website that nobody is going to visit, and remember that many elderly people can't or won't use the internet.
 

Darklord8899

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On the Little White Buses around Ormskirk it used to be considered the height of rudeness to use the bell, you went to the driver and asked him (it was always "him" back then) to stop. On hail and ride routes in MK, on the other hand (not many of those left, fixed stops with raised platforms have mostly been installed), it's always been "press the bell and the driver will stop at the first sensible and safe place with no heavy braking".

I got told off for using the bell on a Blackpool tram once, apparently despite it looking like a bus bell it was for the conductor only.

I remember my mother telling me, that when she was a child, the bell was for the conductor's use (to communicate to the driver)
One ring was to stop at next stop
Two rings to pull away from the stop
Three rings, bus full, keep going
After the buses went to one man operation in Edinburgh passengers would need to ring the bell to indicate for the driver to stop. Edinburgh was one of the last municipal operators that used dual door buses I believe, so using the bell made sense and is still the practice today even now the entire fleet is single door.
 

Be3G

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It's interesting isn't it, because in London there are (or at least used to be) signs on buses that actually said something like ‘please do not speak to or otherwise distract the driver when the bus is moving’. It's certainly a surprise to me to learn that in some parts of the country it has been normal practice to verbally ask the driver to stop!

The only time alighting can get slightly confusing in London is on hail-and-ride routes. On some of them the driver will stop as soon as it's safe to do so, on others the driver will stop when he reaches a known drop-off point even if that's a little distance away, and I've also seen on some routes a system where a passenger will ring the bell as a kind of pre-warning, and then when the passenger gets up out of their seat the driver will interpret that as a cue that they should pull in shortly.
 

Deerfold

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At London frequencies one bus failing to stop is no big deal, at typical inter-urban frequencies one bus failing to stop will probably take up all the time that you allowed for traffic delays, possibly more.

Central London frequencies are often high. However there's plenty of half-hourly services and worse. All TfL drivers are supposed to stop at all stops if there is someone there.
 

Deerfold

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this is directly taken off arrivas website

Catching the bus
If you’ve downloaded the Arriva Bus app, you can use the live map function you can track exactly where your bus is on route to save you from waiting at the bus stop. This function is also available on the website.

Once at the stop, as the bus approaches, you will see the number and final destination of the service on the front. To stop the bus, simply hold out your arm to signal to the driver and they will pull into the stop. Most of our buses have little or no entrance step, so it’s easy to get on even with a wheelchair, buggy or shopping trolley.

How many people do you think have read the website in detail before catching a bus?
 

Deerfold

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I remember my mother telling me, that when she was a child, the bell was for the conductor's use (to communicate to the driver)
One ring was to stop at next stop
Two rings to pull away from the stop
Three rings, bus full, keep going
After the buses went to one man operation in Edinburgh passengers would need to ring the bell to indicate for the driver to stop. Edinburgh was one of the last municipal operators that used dual door buses I believe, so using the bell made sense and is still the practice today even now the entire fleet is single door.

Don't forget:
Four rings - emergency stop.
 

PeterC

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I remember my mother telling me, that when she was a child, the bell was for the conductor's use (to communicate to the driver)
One ring was to stop at next stop
Two rings to pull away from the stop
Three rings, bus full, keep going
After the buses went to one man operation in Edinburgh passengers would need to ring the bell to indicate for the driver to stop. Edinburgh was one of the last municipal operators that used dual door buses I believe, so using the bell made sense and is still the practice today even now the entire fleet is single door.
With crew operation in London passengers were expected to give a single ring for a request stop. On the upper deck there was a single button at the top of the stairs with a label saying "push once". No staying seated until the bus stopped, you had to get to the stairs to ring the bell in good time.
 

fowler9

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I always stick my arm out. My problem on the way to work is the bus I go to catch flying past the bus stop 5 mins early just as I get to the stop. I can then use the Arriva App to see it wait for five mins by Garston Park before heading to South Parkway. After that the bus due ten minutes later (Now fifteen) turns up late because it picked up everyone who missed the earlier bus
 

jim453533

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I don't think it's drifting too much. It was a similar situation around here too. Nobody ever used the stop bell, and anyone who did was given strange looks! The situation has changed since (although I don't know exactly when), and I ended up being overcarried once because I wasn't aware that it was now required to ring the bell. That driver got a flea in his ear because I was halfway to the next village before he stopped, and it was obvious that I wished to alight before my intended stop.

When I moved to Aberdeen to become a student, it was a mostly dual-door fleet, and accepted practice to use the bell, so there are clearly local variations.

To the OP, I don't disagree that it's good practice to hail the bus you want, but if you wish to enforce this policy, it should be made absolutely clear by providing appropriate signage on bus stops, and equivalent posters on the bus advising that use of the bell is required when you wish to alight. There's no point in tucking this info away on part of a website that nobody is going to visit, and remember that many elderly people can't or won't use the internet.

In regards to this you are very right metro I was told used to put up posters saying dont let the bus pass you by. I checked some bus stops in the area and it would seem metro seemed to stop doing this. however it is on various websites and arriva/metro on some of their buses have posters asking passengers to put your arm out. it makes me laugh to see children of 10 years old doing this and yet the adults can not do the same.
 

6Gman

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(Infact i saw a little old lady standing at stop in one of the suburbs in Leicester the other day, simply with a piece of card with the bus number on it,placed upon a walking stick-so there was no need to do any waiving what so ever!! lazy cow lol )

Or maybe she has a visual impairment which means she cannot read route numbers on approaching buses and showing the route number to the driver avoids her having to stop every approaching bus and then checking if it's the one she needs?
 

6Gman

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On the Little White Buses around Ormskirk it used to be considered the height of rudeness to use the bell, you went to the driver and asked him

I got told off for using the bell on a Blackpool tram once, apparently despite it looking like a bus bell it was for the conductor only.

Might be a Lancashire thing. I got a huge b******ing from a conductor in Preston once for ringing "his" bell.

My explanation that it was what was expected where I lived made no impression.

"Don't care what they do anywhere else. This is Preston."
 

robk23oxf

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Or maybe she has a visual impairment which means she cannot read route numbers on approaching buses and showing the route number to the driver avoids her having to stop every approaching bus and then checking if it's the one she needs?

The RNIB recommends that visually impaired people make it clear to others that they're visually impaired (white stick, guide dog etc) and it's then the duty of the driver if they see someone like this at a bus stop to stop and say their route number and destination.
 

6Gman

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The RNIB recommends that visually impaired people make it clear to others that they're visually impaired (white stick, guide dog etc) and it's then the duty of the driver if they see someone like this at a bus stop to stop and say their route number and destination.

Only a tiny minority of people with a visual impairment have guide dogs; only a minority use a white stick. Holding up a sign showing which bus you want to catch seems eminently helpful.
 
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robk23oxf

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Only a tiny minority of people with a visual impairment have guide dogs; only a minority use a white stick. Holding up a sign showing which bus you want to catch seems eminently helpful.

Notice I said 'white stick, guide dog etc' and not just white stick or guide dog, the point is at least they're easy to identify so that they can be given assistance.
 

Bletchleyite

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ringing "his" bell.

Tea, meet keyboard :D

FWIW, there seems to be a similar issue with airlines - on some (such as sleasyJet), they're quite happy for you to use the call bell if you want something, on others (in particular the US ones) they get quite shirty about it and expect you to get up and go to the galley if you want something "out of course".
 

AJW12

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When I was in York you rarely needed to put your hand out - I would generally say anywhere only served by one service is safe.

That said, London isn't so easy, it's a bit hit and miss. But it irritates me when you see people waving and shoving out their hands when either someone in front of them is doing the same thing (I think the driver gets it love) or the bus is already indicating (it's fairly obvious by then).

Small aside point though - the bus etiquette is so much different in other areas of the country. In the rural shire county areas, every stop had a well formed queue with people 'after you'ing for ages - complete contrast to London where the bus stops and you just scrum on. Irritates a bit sometimes when you see someone walking towards the stop I've been waiting at for a few minutes only for them to strut on without even noticing the other people waiting.
 

philthetube

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I always stick my arm out. My problem on the way to work is the bus I go to catch flying past the bus stop 5 mins early just as I get to the stop. I can then use the Arriva App to see it wait for five mins by Garston Park before heading to South Parkway. After that the bus due ten minutes later (Now fifteen) turns up late because it picked up everyone who missed the earlier bus

You should complain every time, it will soon be sorted, also in my experience Arriva are quite good at sending out free tickets to people with genuine grievences.

It is worth bearing in mind that busses are tracked so your issues could be checked up on.
 
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