Thanking a bus driver

[Ken X]

Bit niche, but we always chatted to the drivers of the staff buses at Gatters. Both the staff car park to terminals and the airside shuttles. Whatever stupid time of the night we were coming or going they were always cheery and it makes the whole thing a bit more pleasant.

 

[Temple Meads]

Oddish take on this thing for me, perhaps -- from relatively early on, until about 2003: I lived in London -- where in those times, one entered and exited the bus, via the rear: interaction with the driver, not a feature. On moving to the Birmingham area, I discovered the custom there of -- with "in and out" at the front, past the driver -- when getting out, thanking the driver (via one's preferred form of words). It struck me then -- to some extent, still does -- as a bit weird (why thank the chap for just doing his job?); but at the same time: rather sweet, and benign. From fairly early-on in Brum: I acquired the habit of, on "exiting", saying "thank you" to the driver -- except in stressful or concentration-requiring situations, when it may with me, go by the board.

I have to wonder whether there's a more than tiny minority of curmudgeonly drivers, whose sentiment is: "I get sick to death of being thanked twenty thousand times a day -- I'm just doing my bloody job -- can't people just shut the **** up and simply get off the vehicle?"

Here in Devon it's very unusual for someone not to thank the driver when leaving the bus, and it seems to be the same in most rural places, and also many large cities - I noticed in Southampton where many buses have dual doors that quite a few people go to the effort of shouting their thanks when leaving from the centre doors.

 

[duffield]

Here in Devon it's very unusual for someone not to thank the driver when leaving the bus, and it seems to be the same in most rural places, and also many large cities - I noticed in Southampton where many buses have dual doors that quite a few people go to the effort of shouting their thanks when leaving from the centre doors.

It's normal in Nottingham but wasn't in Reading when I lived there. I have a theory that the volume of thankage is proportionate to the distance from London.

 

[urbophile]

I've always found a divide on this from living in London where some bus drivers just blank or look at you as if you have two heads if you even so much as say good morning, to the rural where its so much friendlier.

It must depend on where you live in London. When I have used a bus in Brixton it is not unusual for passengers to shout 'thank you' down the bus when getting off in the middle door. Introverts like me would find that embarrassing, but it seems right and natural to say thank you if leaving by the front and hence passing the driver.

 

[61653 HTAFC]

It is quite alarming that when people are just trying to be pleasant and polite someone tries to construe it as treating someone disrespectfully and as an underling.

When I worked in a supermarket in Taunton in my younger days, there was one particular customer (an older lady of generous means) who would address my colleagues and I as "staff" with every sentence- so it was "excuse me staff, could you please...(whatever the request was)", or "thank-you, staff"... which I found amusing rather than insulting.

As for buses, I'll always say "cheers" as I'm getting off. I'll even thank guards or drivers on trains if I'm alighting from the door the guard is at, or from the door adjacent to the leading cab if the driver has his window open.

 

[Vexed]

I noticed in Southampton where many buses have dual doors that quite a few people go to the effort of shouting their thanks when leaving from the centre doors.

I noticed this as well coming to Southampton for uni. My hypothesis is that there is a mix of single and double doors and lots of uni students coming from elsewhere with single doors where we would always thank the driver (like me!).

From what I hear, you'd be surprised how well sound carries down the bus to the driver's seat.

 

[furnessvale]

I have to wonder whether there's a more than tiny minority of curmudgeonly drivers, whose sentiment is: "I get sick to death of being thanked twenty thousand times a day -- I'm just doing my bloody job -- can't people just shut the **** up and simply get off the vehicle?"

That curmudgeonly driver would be sorry in my area where occasionally it is "all hands to the pumps" on a country lane to remove a fallen branch so we can continue our journey!

 

[Magdalia]

How do you say thank you to any other customer facing person you come across? A bus driver is no different. I’m confused as to what you’re trying to get at here.

Earlier this week I made a journey in Cambridge on a Stagecoach bus. The vehicle was a double decker, I think a recent transfer in from elsewhere.

This bus had a way of thanking the driver without having to speak to them. There was a small poster near the stairs that included a QR code so that people could say their thanks using their phones.

 

[TheTallOne]

Earlier this week I made a journey in Cambridge on a Stagecoach bus. The vehicle was a double decker, I think a recent transfer in from elsewhere.

This bus had a way of thanking the driver without having to speak to them. There was a small poster near the stairs that included a QR code so that people could say their thanks using their phones.

Did it give them an option to tip the driver?

 

[Buzby]

I always acknowledge the driver on exit, and if s/he is in a good mood, I get this reciprocated - it makes both feel recognised and appreciated!

 

[Calthrop]

That curmudgeonly driver would be sorry in my area where occasionally it is "all hands to the pumps" on a country lane to remove a fallen branch so we can continue our journey!

There can of course be -- and often is -- a difference between what people think, and what they say out loud. It's probably a great mercy that we are unable to read other folks' minds ...

 

[40875704]

I regularly use the bus and also have a monthly coach trip with a walking club, The bus driver will get "thankyou" and the coach driver "thankyou driver" I'm not sure why I do that.

 

[185143]

I'll always greet the driver which in London is usually met with silence. I make a point of thanking those drivers in particular.

I've noticed that if you thank a London bus driver it does occasionally then become contagious if there's others alighting too.

I've always thought of thanking the bus driver as a Northern thing. But is it? Certainly in Bristol and Wales they thank the driver.

I regularly use the bus and also have a monthly coach trip with a walking club, The bus driver will get "thankyou" and the coach driver "thankyou driver" I'm not sure why I do that.

It's nice to be nice!

As someone in a public facing transport role, a bit of gratitude is genuinely appreciated.

 

[Mikey C]

I'll always greet the driver which in London is usually met with silence. I make a point of thanking those drivers in particular.

I've noticed that if you thank a London bus driver it does occasionally then become contagious if there's others alighting too.

I've always thought of thanking the bus driver as a Northern thing. But is it? Certainly in Bristol and Wales they thank the driver.


It's nice to be nice!

As someone in a public facing transport role, a bit of gratitude is genuinely appreciated.

I've always thought of it as being more of a single/dual door thing. Getting off a single door bus, you literally pass by the driver so it becomes more "reasonable" to say something, whereas in London where most buses have 2 or even 3 doors, you're a lot further from the driver when you exit.

 

[185143]

I've always thought of it as being more of a single/dual door thing. Getting off a single door bus, you literally pass by the driver so it becomes more "reasonable" to say something, whereas in London where most buses have 2 or even 3 doors, you're a lot further from the driver when you exit.

In fairness to Londoners, I suspect it is. But I've always been brought up with "say thank you" when getting off the bus with (Grand)parents. And I'm a stubborn Northerner, so I'm doing it.

Admittedly the one or two times I've got off the rear of a three door London bus I haven't. But the driver will hear you from the middle.

 

[furnessvale]

In fairness to Londoners, I suspect it is. But I've always been brought up with "say thank you" when getting off the bus with (Grand)parents. And I'm a stubborn Northerner, so I'm doing it.

Admittedly the one or two times I've got off the rear of a three door London bus I haven't. But the driver will hear you from the middle.

It used to be a problem with the old open rear platform buses as well. Sometimes the conductor got thanks depending on his mood.

 

[styles]

"Cheers pal", or, "Cheers pal, cya now"

Or when back in Wales, "Diolch", or, "Diolch, hwyl"

Never really given it any thought beyond that!

One of my nephews (10) is very much a, "Thank you" kind; it sounds very sincere. Also perhaps the most excited, "Merci!", when we're in France.

 

[Springs Branch]

. . . I have a theory that the volume of thankage is proportionate to the distance from London.

In recent decades around the Manchester area, it seems fairly normal to thank the driver, but it didn't used to be so.

When I used to travel around the Selnec / Greater Manchester area extensively by bus in the 1970s, it was very rare for a passenger to offer any thanks to the driver or conductor when alighting. Unless there were some special circumstances, like after a high-speed homeward dash on the last bus of the night whilst feeling amply refreshed & jolly after a night out - even more so when getting off one of the boisterous All Night Services, which seemed to be worked by regular crews who you came to recognise.

In the same era, I was once loudly berated by the driver of a Lancashire United Daimler Fleetline for ringing the bell to alight. Normal procedure at the time, whether on a rear engined or half-cab vehicle, was to just get up and stand by the door, ignoring the PUSH ONCE invitation on the multiple bell pushes. On this occasion I was a bit late getting out of my seat and down from the top deck, so rang the bell to be sure he didn't speed past my stop. I was then abused along the lines of "I'm not blind you know. I can see you. You shouldn't be ringing the bell." His conductress then joined in "Oh no. You shouldn't be ringing the bell. I'll ring the bell for him if it needs ringing". Obviously, no-one got thanked on that occasion.

 

[43055]

I always say 'Hiya' when I get on and 'thank you' when I get off. It did feel a bit odd when I used a London bus a few years back and tried to shout 'thank you' down the bus as I got off!

 

[MattRat]

When I was growing up, my mum would always thank the bus driver, and make sure I did too. It's now become an involuntary response for me when I get off the bus, and sometimes I even accidentally say it when getting off the train.

Perhaps parenting has an effect?

 

[Calthrop]

In the same era, I was once loudly berated by the driver of a Lancashire United Daimler Fleetline for ringing the bell to alight. Normal procedure at the time, whether on a rear engined or half-cab vehicle, was to just get up and stand by the door, ignoring the PUSH ONCE invitation on the multiple bell pushes. On this occasion I was a bit late getting out of my seat and down from the top deck, so rang the bell to be sure he didn't speed past my stop. I was then abused along the lines of "I'm not blind you know. I can see you. You shouldn't be ringing the bell." His conductress then joined in "Oh no. You shouldn't be ringing the bell. I'll ring the bell for him if it needs ringing". Obviously, no-one got thanked on that occasion.

Matters of grumpy / short-fused / un-forbearing members of the profession: your real-life experience above, called to mind irresistibly for me a passage from Val McDermid's murder mystery Cross and Burn (the fictional driver here can admittedly be sympathised with, more than your "precious pair"). McDermid's hero Tony Hill is trying to investigate a baffling and "one-fears-the-worst" missing-person case: about to return by bus latish at night, in the West Riding city where he lives, from the supermarket to his dwelling; he notices that the bus's CCTV monitor mounted above the driver's seat, unexpectedly shows as well as the bus's interior, a fair section of things immediately outside -- possibly of use for tracing people's movements. I quote:

" 'How often does this service run?' he asked the driver, who ... gave a weary sigh. 'Every twenty minutes from seven in the morning till ten at night.'

'Is this the only bus service that runs into the supermarket?'

'Do I look like Google? Go and sit down so I can get moving.'

'Can I stand here and watch the monitor?'

The driver pointed to a sign on the Perspex screen that protected him from his passengers. 'Can you not read? No passengers beyond this point while vehicle is in motion. That means sit down and leave me alone. You can do that, or you can get off.' "

As above -- although the driver is not "Mr. Charm", his sentiments and words are understandable. Tony -- while one of the good guys -- is definitely "on the spectrum", and can be more than a little annoying ...

 

[David Burrows]

In Lincoln area most people seem to thank the driver when alighting.

 

[Bradford PA]

I normally greet the driver when I get on and thank him/her when I get off. I am especially enthusiastic in this :
(i) on a country bus visiting a place that I have not been to before and might require some guidance,
(ii) where there is an infrequent service,
(iii) on a last bus/late night city service.