This is a bus driver ..not sure the route name as I am new to the city..but he was doing the South Park/Inglis Corner route when I saw him..
there was a guy RUNNING for the bus..really running..bus went by him heading toward bus stop..the driver MUST have seen him..so the guys is still running..the bus picked someone up..bus driver must have caught a glimpse of this guy running up the sidewalk..the bus tears away from the curb and takes off..what the hell? it would have been seriously 2 SECONDS to wait for the guy running…I found this really off..had it been a girl in skirt, I bet he would have stopped..guess there was no interest in picking up a young black guy ?
This article appears in Apr 17-23, 2008.
Well Matt,some people aren’t comfortable just yelling out on the bus, and then take the risk of getting thrown off the bus!!
Don’t worry about that Jenn…another bus will be along in 10min or so….Right? 🙂
Oh, obviously he didn’t stop because the pedestrian was black! It couldn’t be anything else. White girl, most bus drivers here are assholes..it’s just in their blood.And i think it’s pretty lame that you’ve chosen ‘white girl’ as your handle. Why stop at black/white when you can alienate every other race on the planet?
I’ve had that happen to me before, I’ve literally ran after a bus and banged on the windows. I mean, it’s not hard to stop for one second to let someone on the bus… and in this day and age, people hate confrontation…even if it will help someone else. so speaking up just isn’t an option for a lot.
Wasn’t there a poster the other day who imagined racism where none (probably) existed? Looks to me like the OP here is displaying her own prejudices, by judging the bus driver without a shred of evidence. And why does she think we care what her own skin colour is? She might think it’s relevant, but I certainly don’t.
In this case, it is a matter of law. Ask any bus driver if he moves the bus from a designated stop, he is not supposed to halt the already in motion bus. It is deemed a risk to the passengers on the bus and to traffic behind the bus. Should this activity been caught a supervisor, this would have been a mark on his record.Even if the bus wasnt moving that fast. A sudden jerk could put people at risk.
Another thing to keep in mind is that the driver has already glanced in his/her right mirror and determined that side of the bus is clear of passengers and must now concentrate on the left mirror to merge back into traffic. A person who chases after a bus as it pulls away from a stop is at risk of slipping under the curbside tires and not being noticed by the driver until its too late.
My fiance is a bus driver and she said that if she picks somebody up away from a stop and something happens to him/her, then it’s her responsibility. Here’s another idea, try showing up several minutes before the bus is supposed to leave. I just love these bitches about transit. Now where did I put that dead horse…
Oh and by the way, I’ve been taking the bus for 8 years and have NEVER seen anyone kicked off for asking the bus driver to stop and wait…like Matt said, really weak excuse.
I just reread the bitch too…I don’t think the OP was on the bus, she just saw it happen from the street: “but he was doing the South Park/Inglis Corner route when I saw him”. Not that this makes the discussion about what to do if you notice this happen when you are actually on the bus irrelevant or anything…just pointing it out. Probably explains why the OP didn’t know the bus route either.
ok weak excuse I see your point, I didn’t say it was what “I” would do, I have no problem speaking up if I see an injustice I just think some people aren’t out spoken and might not feel comfortable, but your right I see your point, weak excuse!!
Naw, i didnt miss the point matt. To have her suggest that she knew he was coming is a stretch. That is a long assed vehicle and they tend to focus on the right left mirror to check for traffic. The person would have been running from the rear end of the bus on the right side. At this point once he commited to moving the bus, that person was going to be waiting. That is the rules. It is a courtesy for them to stop, but it is also a risk to the traffic behind the bus and the people on the bus.In this case, i feel bad he missed the bus, but the driver is not at fault.
Homie, the bus PASSED the guy running to the stop…STOPS at the bus stop and pulled away, knowing the guy was running to the stop. He must have looked AHEAD and to the RIGHT to see the person at the bus stop and actually stop. It is quite reasonable that the driver would have noticed the guy running up the sidewalk before pulling up to the stop as well.
How do we know the guy was actually running for the bus? He could have been running because he was late for work or an appointment and would normally walk that same route. Theres no mention of him gesturing to the driver as the bus passed him on the way to the stop so how was the driver supposed to know he wanted to catch the bus. The driver has a schedule to try and follow, can you imagine if every driver had to wait for people who “might be running for the bus” at numerous stops. Metro Transit buses would run so far behind their scheduled times, more than they do at present.
Matt/Miles: I don’t think there’s any point arguing with The Homie. He is right about everyting, all the time. Or at least he thinks he is.
I see what you are saying matt. Guess the moral of the story is to be a few minutes early at the bus stop to catch the bus at the schedule arrival time. Plus he’d have a few buses to chose from at that corner anyway so its not like he’d be waiting an hour for the next bus.
Funny, you have people questioning me and saying that i know it all, half the people in this thread have called this into question. Funny, you are calling me a know it all. I havent given my opinion and am only stating facts. I guess having knowledge on things makes you a know it all. Funny, if i was a know it all, i would have posted in EVERY OP. I havent. So take your little whiney selves…. and stick to the OP.
The Homie, you are correct in your facts on the transit system and I have to agree that what I have read has been factual and nothing opinionated in this post at all
So Jenn, is the 11.37 AM comment from the Homie a FACT also ??? You know the part that says “… but the driver is not at fault.”Sounds an awful lot like an OPINION to me…And a poorly supported opinion at that.
Homie is right when it comes to transit rules stating that the driver can be found in the wrong if he stops again after committing to merging back into traffic and away from the curb. I worked for a charter company whose drivers were also members of the ATU local and spent many nights at meetings where safety policies were discussed. Two things could occur, one is being disciplined by transit and the other is a ticket under the motor vehicle act for stopping at a location other than a bus stop and picking up a passenger when not at curbside. Its all in the drivers handbook, bus drivers (or any vehicle driver) are not to take on or let down passengers at a location other than against the far right curbside. Then transit adds the rule stating to stop at designated stops only.
Ex-Hali, If you reread the post, the driver would not have had to restop. The person was running to the stop, the bus passed him, stopped to pick up a passenger and pulled away. The OP is saying that the driver must have seen him as the driver approached the stop. All the driver had to do was wait 2 more seconds for the guy to get to the bus stop to reach the already stopped bus. There was confusion in the first few posts because people thought that the OP was on the bus. You and Homie are right about the rules, but that is irrelevant to this particular situation. Now it is about whether or not the driver saw the guy (which the OP says he must have) and whether or not he was being rude by not waiting 2 seconds, after he already stopped for another passenger, for the runner to get to the stop. The best arguement in defence of the driver would be that he was already behind schedule and had to leave, which I think you made Ex-Hali.
Well put Miles…I think any reasonable person looking at the scenario as outlined and detailed by the OP, would come to the conclusion that the bus driver either knew or “ought to have known” before he stopped the bus in the first place, that a PERSON was running to catch it…As is consistent with the miserable attitude that so many bus drivers go about their job, it is apparent that this driver chose to punish the would-be passenger for being what would have been likely only a few seconds late… Furthermore when you consider what if there were five people waiting to get on the bus instead of one, then the length of time the bus would have been stopped, would have been more than sufficient for the runner to catch up… I could be wrong here, I have been wrong before… but this one seems like a no-brainer… If I was a MetroTransit supervisor, I would have fired that guys ass on the spot… No questions asked…
I agree that the driver could have waited for the runner to catch the bus IF the runner was making it apparent that he wanted on that but. Did he wave or gesture to the driver? Did he stop running and slowly make his way to the bus once it was stopped? One of the big things I noticed in Halifax is that many people refuse to look at the driver in a case where they may be running a few seconds behind, or the pet peeve one – when you refuse to nod your head or wave on a driver of a bus other than the one you are waiting for. This is annoying in that a lot of people won’t even say no thanks to the driver once they are stopped.Then the one that gets me and people in Moncton are getting bad for it – standing 10 feet back from the bus stop as the bus approaches then get upset when the driver assumes they don’t want the bus and drives on. Make an effort to show you are waiting for the bus.
And Floyd – a supervisor would not be able to fire his ass on the spot. There is a collective agreement in place that governs the disciplinary process and even non-union workers have labour standards that employers have to follow.
Yeah Floyd, i am not stating an opinion. I am not guessing that the driver would be commiting a violation in stoppint the vehicle. That is something that is written in text. This isnt subjective. This could be simply quoted from the site that would have this spelled out for you. I could have done that, or simply just told you. However i notice putting links is hard as hell on this site and just paraphrased regulations.For the record, i am not stating an opinion as to whether the driver should have seen the patron. That is merely the opinion of the OP. From her perspective I am unsure she could have been able to see the direction the driver was looking. We havent been provided with nearly enough evidence here to really state who is at fault. I am simply stating what is wrong with the suggestion that the bus just stop once it started pulling away.
Ex-Hali, I think it is a reasonable assumption that the runner gives some visual clue to the driver, enough that the driver would have to see him unless he chooses not too.Ask yourself this… If it were YOU running to catch the bus, would you not at least look up toward the bus as it approaches, to check the number, or make eye contact with the driver, or SOMETHING??? The bus driver SAW him running very fast, very close to the stop… He was not in “The Running Club” and the driver knew it… Lets agree on that.As for the fire-his-ass collective agreement issue, hopefully you can appreciate hyperbole when you see it… The fact is I am NOT a Metro Transit supervisor… That was simply an attempt to convey my deep disappointment in the driver who really should have done better…And Homey, I think you are missing the point… I do not disagree, that once the bus is in motion again, that it has to keep moving… But the real problem occurs BEFORE that… Either you accept the OP version of events or you do not… IF you accept her version, you have to agree with her statement “the driver MUST have seen him”. And if you accept that, then it must follow based on the test of “a reasonable person” that the driver is at fault… But for sure these are All just opinions… not facts…
and as i have said floyd, i am not giving an opinion on this. I would need to hear the view of the guy running, and the driver and see how credible the OP is. Judging by her comments about race and color, i am inclined to think she had some bias about this. Not because it couldnt have happened, but the she gave more detail to race, than some of the more essential things so we can get a better picture of what happened. I am of no opine on this OP. I am merely stating fact. capiche?
OK Got to run… Bus to catch… Dont want to miss it..Later dude.. Have a good one…Anyone else want to take on the Homey for a while??? Good luck… He’s more persistent than a jehova witness debt collector…
Bus drivers pick people up at the side of the road, if there’s space, if they see someone running to the bus stop, in Toronto, Edmonton, and Calgary. Only 3 places i took public transit, and had that happen to me. Bus drivers in halifax on the other hand, don’t even pick people up standing at the bus stop, let alone wait for someone they see running to the stop. Enough said.
I am the girl who posted the original Bitch..I just happened to check in and am floored at all the feedback about my posting. Just to clarify..I was not on the bus..was walking down the street. The reason I made a comment about the guy running being black was that it was so amazingly rude what the bus driver did ,it really was the first thing that popped into my head..yes, I know, very lame to get into the race issue, but that was my first thought..the bus driver drove by this guy running like a mad man for the bus..the bus driver continued on to the bus stop..stopped for a second to pick someone up..the guy is still running..he gets to the the back of the bus and the bus driver just pulls away..it is possible the bus driver didn’t see him..but really, from where my standpoint, it seems almost impossible..unless he was blind. it was appalling really. I wrote ‘white girl’ in a moment of fuming. probably not the right choice of words..yes, I agree.. touchy subject.