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Wrongly assumed facts by bus passengers

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AY1975

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Following on from the thread on wrongly assumed facts by rail passengers at https://www.railforums.co.uk/threads/wrongly-assumed-facts-by-passengers.159614/ how many misconceptions about bus travel can you think of that many bus users (and potential users) seem to have?

Here's a few that I can think of:

That you can usually get away with travelling further than you've paid to go (obviously not an issue on routes and networks that have a flat fare such as London and Lothian Buses in Edinburgh).

That all buses will carry a plentiful supply of change so it's OK to pay with a £10 or £20 note even for a £1 fare.

That if you have some kind of pass or day ticket you have priority over other passengers.

That you will never have to wait more than a few minutes for a bus at any bus stop at any time of day or night, whether in an urban or a rural area.

That all buses will stop anywhere, not only at bus stops.

That you always have to ring the bell to get off at the next stop even if someone has already rung it.

That you don't have to stick your arm out to tell the bus to stop; just being visible at the bus stop is enough.
 
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Jordan Adam

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That you can usually get away with travelling further than you've paid to go (obviously not an issue on routes and networks that have a flat fare such as London and Lothian Buses in Edinburgh).

Obviously you shouldn't, however you usually would get away with it as the driver is unliky to remember how far you paid to go. All comes down to the drivers memory really.

That you don't have to stick your arm out to tell the bus to stop; just being visible at the bus stop is enough.

Depends on where, up here you don't need to stick your arm out and people very rarely do, you just stand at the edge of the pavement at the bus stop and the driver will pull over.
 

Journeyman

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Many, many people assume that the council still has a lot to do with the running of local bus services, and therefore will complain bitterly about it.

Linked to this is the assumption (shown by one forum poster in particular, despite being regularly corrected) that Lothian Buses is awash with vast subsidies from council tax payers, and can therefore afford to waste huge sums of money on whatever it likes.
 

Bletchleyite

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Depends on where, up here you don't need to stick your arm out and people very rarely do, you just stand at the edge of the pavement at the bus stop and the driver will pull over.

The rule in London is as per Germany - if people are at the stop who might want the bus (or the driver can't see if there are or not, e.g. because another bus is blocking the view), it should stop. Most people still stick their hand out, though.

It used to be the case that even on the hail and ride routes in MK the driver would stop if he saw people waiting (as there wouldn't generally be people stood waiting by the kerb for any other purpose, certainly not in the conventional waiting locations which were quite well established even if they were not formal stops - waiting for a taxi you'd just wait outside your house). May still be if there are any left, in the 2000s there was a big programme of building proper stops instead (mostly I think for wheelchair access reasons).
 

Bletchleyite

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Many, many people assume that the council still has a lot to do with the running of local bus services, and therefore will complain bitterly about it.

I was going to say that one. Here in MK, Arriva purchased MK Metro and eventually rebranded it. Even the local press reported it as them having "lost the contract".
 

Jordan Adam

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The rule in London is as per Germany - if people are at the stop who might want the bus (or the driver can't see if there are or not, e.g. because another bus is blocking the view), it should stop. Most people still stick their hand out, though.

It used to be the case that even on the hail and ride routes in MK the driver would stop if he saw people waiting (as there wouldn't generally be people stood waiting by the kerb for any other purpose, certainly not in the conventional waiting locations which were quite well established even if they were not formal stops - waiting for a taxi you'd just wait outside your house). May still be if there are any left, in the 2000s there was a big programme of building proper stops instead (mostly I think for wheelchair access reasons).

Indeed, should've noted though that with Stagecoach and the independents (Referred to by Aberdonians as the "Country Bus") you still have to signal if you want the bus to stop. Additionally i'll sometimes signal for a Firstbus if the stop in question is less visible, for example i was waiting for a Service X27 on Wellheads Drive a few weeks back and the stop was just a small flag on a rather obscure pole half way round a 40MPH bend i signalled to the bus just to be sure. However i wouldn't normally as it's not the "protocol".

Signalling doesn't always work either. Whenever Stagecoach have tried a city service on a commercial basis here they've gained a reputation for drivers ignoring bus stops if another vehicle is already there. Possibly part of the reason such services have failed in the past!
 

Journeyman

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I was going to say that one. Here in MK, Arriva purchased MK Metro and eventually rebranded it. Even the local press reported it as them having "lost the contract".

Many older people in Glasgow still think that the former Strathclyde services now operated by First are still something to do with the "corporation".
 

175mph

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Obviously you shouldn't, however you usually would get away with it as the driver is unliky to remember how far you paid to go. All comes down to the drivers memory really.


Depends on where, up here you don't need to stick your arm out and people very rarely do, you just stand at the edge of the pavement at the bus stop and the driver will pull over.
Well this passenger obviously wasn't so lucky, (it's a homeless guy trying to get as far as he can on what little change he had on him, and no, I don't find him homeless funny, merely the fact that the driver remembered and caught him). :lol:

 

ClydeCoaster

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Many older people in Glasgow still think that the former Strathclyde services now operated by First are still something to do with the "corporation".
Last summer when waiting for the Stagecoach (Western) 585 service from Ardrossan, an elderly lady approached and asked whether the "SMT" bus had been! Since I grew up with them being branded Western Scottish in the 80s I'm pretty sure not many people would know what she meant!
 

Jordan Adam

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Well this passenger obviously wasn't so lucky, (it's a homeless guy trying to get as far as he can on what little change he had on him, and no, I don't find him homeless funny, merely the fact that the driver remembered and caught him). :lol:


The thing there though is as sad as it is a homeless person stands out more than the average Joe. I think it's fair to say the typically commuter is more likely to get away with it than a homeless and/or intoxicated person.
 

darloscott

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Many, many people assume that the council still has a lot to do with the running of local bus services, and therefore will complain bitterly about it.
Yep an absolute biggy round the North East too, often get calls to "take the contract off them" as if it's still a thing
 

TheGrandWazoo

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Yep an absolute biggy round the North East too, often get calls to "take the contract off them" as if it's still a thing

It’s THE most common one everywhere.

Also, the “X firm are withdrawing Y service“ despite making quadrillions - not withstanding that the source of the quadrillions is in another county or country!!

And the old favourite that X company gets £Ym in subsidy when it’s actually recompense for a service they are providing (e.g. various pensioner/disabled/scholar passes).
 

Gingerbus1991

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The rule in London is as per Germany - if people are at the stop who might want the bus (or the driver can't see if there are or not, e.g. because another bus is blocking the view), it should stop. Most people still stick their hand out, though.

It used to be the case that even on the hail and ride routes in MK the driver would stop if he saw people waiting (as there wouldn't generally be people stood waiting by the kerb for any other purpose, certainly not in the conventional waiting locations which were quite well established even if they were not formal stops - waiting for a taxi you'd just wait outside your house). May still be if there are any left, in the 2000s there was a big programme of building proper stops instead (mostly I think for wheelchair access reasons).
Weegies still put there hands out, Eddie's certainly think they are above such a thing.
 

PaulMc7

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There's a couple of things I can think of especially in Glasgow:

A bus even late by a minute is the driver's fault.
Congestion is only an excuse and not a thing.
Passengers can't be the reason a bus is late.
Buses being in public hands will just magically fix everything.
They should have a bus that suits them and them only even if it runs empty.
Services can't be cut if making a loss.
 

robk23oxf

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A lot of passengers think the company provides each driver with a cash float whereas the reality is that drivers often have to provide their own floats. Many drivers choose not to go out with a float at all, I understand their reasons for this however I'm all for making things as easy as possible and I don't like giving out change vouchers. Of course if the first few passengers in the morning give me £10 or £20 notes then there will probably be an issue and somehow it will be my fault that I don't carry more of my own money. At least contactless payment is an option now.
 

scotrail158713

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That you don't have to stick your arm out to tell the bus to stop; just being visible at the bus stop is enough.
I live in a village in East Lothian where there’s only one route that passes the stop by my house. I therefore think I don’t have to stick my hand out as I can only be waiting for that bus. (If I’m a few yards back from the road with my head in my phone then that’s different but if I’m standing by the edge of the pavement then I think that’s obvious enough)
When I’m in Edinburgh though I stick my hand out though as 4 or 5 different buses could be stopping at the stop.
 

175mph

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The thing there though is as sad as it is a homeless person stands out more than the average Joe. I think it's fair to say the typically commuter is more likely to get away with it than a homeless and/or intoxicated person.
I've seen other 'average Joe' type people getting caught out too, mainly though when they tried to use a local Stagecoach Megarider beyond it's validity boundary, ie when I was on the 350 bus route coming home from Hull one evening, I remember the driver pulling over at the bus stop before the toll booths for the bridge crossing and call out a passenger for trying to stay on beyond the Hull Megarider boundary, (and it was a busy bus as well, so I'm surprised he remembered).
 

Busaholic

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Growing up in London, with a mix of compulsory and request stops of roughly 50:50, I'll always err on the side of making the driver aware I want to get on or off as appropriate.
 

Bletchleyite

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Growing up in London, with a mix of compulsory and request stops of roughly 50:50, I'll always err on the side of making the driver aware I want to get on or off as appropriate.

As noted above London has abolished the differential, and now the rule for all stops is:-

For alighting: ring the bell or the bus may not stop
For boarding: drivers must stop if they cannot see that there is definitely not someone waiting at the stop for that bus

(This is all in the Big Red Book which is online somewhere)
 

Busaholic

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As noted above London has abolished the differential, and now the rule for all stops is:-

For alighting: ring the bell or the bus may not stop
For boarding: drivers must stop if they cannot see that there is definitely not someone waiting at the stop for that bus

(This is all in the Big Red Book which is online somewhere)
That's as maybe, I'll still go by my protocols. Actually, if all stops are theoretically compulsory, you shouldn't need to ring the bell for the bus to stop: that makes all stops requests!
 

Tom B

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That's as maybe, I'll still go by my protocols. Actually, if all stops are theoretically compulsory, you shouldn't need to ring the bell for the bus to stop: that makes all stops requests!

London bus drivers seem to be a law unto themselves and whatever the rules may state, I expect that not ringing the bell would result in you being overcarried, even at a Compulsory stop.
 

thewaistcoat

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A lot of passengers think the company provides each driver with a cash float whereas the reality is that drivers often have to provide their own floats. Many drivers choose not to go out with a float at all, I understand their reasons for this however I'm all for making things as easy as possible and I don't like giving out change vouchers. Of course if the first few passengers in the morning give me £10 or £20 notes then there will probably be an issue and somehow it will be my fault that I don't carry more of my own money. At least contactless payment is an option now.
I've never been on my local buses despite having a bus stop directly outside my house mainly because it's impossible to find out beforehand what the price of the journey is. I know bus drivers would prefer me to give the correct money. In these days you'd have thought type in bus number select start and destination and bingo, single, return and other available fares all displayed. Nope! Contactless will only partially fix this - which ticket do I need and how much is that? Think I'm going off-topic here.
 

Bletchleyite

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That's as maybe, I'll still go by my protocols. Actually, if all stops are theoretically compulsory, you shouldn't need to ring the bell for the bus to stop: that makes all stops requests!

The new model is different from both of the previous two options and is the model used in most of Germany and much of the rest of Europe too. Essentially, all stops are compulsory stops for boarding, but all stops are request stops for alighting.

London bus drivers seem to be a law unto themselves and whatever the rules may state, I expect that not ringing the bell would result in you being overcarried, even at a Compulsory stop.

There are no longer Compulsory stops in London - see above!
 

Statto

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Many older people in Glasgow still think that the former Strathclyde services now operated by First are still something to do with the "corporation".

Likewise in my area some people still think Merseytravel run the buses, Merseytravel like every other area outside London haven't done so since October 86.
 

Andyh82

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Buses running out of service are always meant to be in service, and the driver has just decided to run dead. Firstly, if a decision to regulate has been taken, it won’t be the driver doing it on a whim, and secondly many out of service buses are scheduled to run out of service.

The local operator is rubbish and the council should take the contract off them.

One that comes up in West Yorks a lot recently is that the WYCA is a unnecessary body that should be scrapped. Not realising that if it was scrapped, you’d have the 5 councils doing the same thing instead.

A bus can stop on a sixpence so it’s perfectly fine to sit in a shelter on your phone, only putting your hand out at the last second.

If a bus is hot in a heatwave, it’s because ‘the heating is on’
 

LiviCrazy

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That you don't have to stick your arm out to tell the bus to stop; just being visible at the bus stop is enough.

I’d actually argue the opposite in my area. First generally only stop if you signal. I always find it somewhat amusing when on a First bus in Edinburgh and someone doesn’t signal and the driver drives by and you see them take a wee temper tantrum.
 

Andyh82

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You don’t HAVE to put your arm out, but I wish they would. It slows the service down if buses keep pulling in and out at people standing dead still, who actually don’t want that bus.
 

MotCO

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Surely one of the most frequest comments is why are all the buses going in the opposite direction empty, whereas the way I'm going all the buses are full? Why can't they put more buses on my direction?
(I know the answer, but the average punter doesn't)
 
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