Metro Transit is absolutely amazing. I have never come across a company so devoted to hiring incompetent assholes to run a business.
Metro Transit bus drivers know some really neat tricks. Showing up late? Showing up early? Child’s play! Metro Transit bus drivers have figured out how to not show up at all! I gotta tell you, nothing makes you appreciate the warmth and comfort of a filthy city bus, like standing in the snow for an hour and a half.
Ohh, but the fun isn’t over when you get on the bus, oh no! Drivers must go to a special school to learn to do their job, because I’ve never met a bigger bunch of jackasses in my life. If you’ve got an armload of stuff, and are having troubling getting on the bus, the drivers will encourage you by screaming at you to hurry up.
Metro Transit bus drivers are committed to a healthier population. Sometimes they’ll pull up to the curb, look right at you, watch you wave your arms, and pull away. Outstanding, I can use an hour’s walk to work!
Some drivers take the time to check each and every buss pass that is flashed in front of them. Most drivers see this as a waste of time, but there are a few drivers truly dedicated to their job; god help you if you try to bilk them out of the $2.50 bus fare!
If you’re an elderly person, the drivers will do their best to keep your reflexes sharp, by stomping on the gas as soon as the door is closed. Better sit down fast, or you’re going to meet the floor!
James Bond has a license to kill, and Metro Transit drivers have a license to run into shit and not give a damn. Vans, cars, trucks, more cars, people, dogs, horses, cows, other buses, snowplows; I’ve seen them all get hit. It’s their fault for being on the road or sidewalk. I mean shit, if you can’t get out of the way of a city bus barreling down the road at 50 km over the speed limit because the driver stopped at Tim Horton’s and is now 15 minutes late, then you deserve to get hit.
This article appears in Mar 6-12, 2008.
Metro Transit simply does not care what you or any other person in this city thinks, if the bus doesn’t show up on time it is simply because the driver is preparing to be early for the next scheduled arrival. According to them (Metro Transit) a bus has a window of up to 20 minutes on either side of the ETA before it is considered late, a whole 40 minutes! What really bothers me is that they present GoTime like it’s some wonderful example of how they are so reliable and yet it means absolutely nothing if there is a 40 minute window.
Christopher – you might also want to check out how tight their scheduling staff makes the run timing, especially when you finish one route and change over to another one right away. Now if you are late on the first route that makes you late for the second route and if you can’t make up time then you are late for the rest of the shift. GoTime doesn’t mean anything until the new system is up and running and giving realtime GPS information between buses and the transit facility. All you are getting right now is scheduled times at the stops, not real time info. You might as well read the schedule book instead of calling the number for now.
And no they don’t have a window of 20 minutes on either side of the ETA – they have 15 to 20 minutes past the scheduled departure time but they don’t allow early departures (which would be the other side as you called it).Any you guys are right, the whole system needs fixing. I have 17 years of experience behind the wheel of charter and school buses and was turned down by MT a couple of years back when applying for a job. The reason – a louzy reference from a former employer not even involved in the bus business. Guess the letters from past groups I’d driven all around the maritimes meant nothing to MT human resources.
the posted schedule said 5:40, I was there at 5:35 , missed the bus, went the next day and BARELY caught it a 5:30. As I got on ,the driver rolled through all of the stop signs from Kennedy dr to Tacoma, he then he got up, said not to get off the bus, took the keys and locked the door. Walked over to the Burger King got a burger and ate it in the store!!!!!!!!!When I called to express how fucked up this was i was told that “Drivers get hungry ” and “it is the responsibilty of the driver to protect the passengers” (I may not have been as pissed if I could have at least gotten out to have a smoke, it was July)It felt like, when you walk into a convience store at night and you dont know if the person behind the counter works there or is robbing the place, its like, Is this guy for real???
Well Travis I doubt the driver took the keys since transit buses aren’t equipped with keys, except Access-a-Bus units. He also wouldn’t lock the doors as its against NSURB rules to lock passengers aboard. He probably bled the air off the door system like required and you could have easily pushed open the front door to exit.As for the bus being 10 minutes early, did it ever occur to you that it might have actually been the previously scheduled bus running very late?
Ho hum, let’s beat the dead horse once again. Hey losers, get a fucking car or walk!!
Dont expect buses to be on time on the dot, its impossible… so many variables when driving… go earlier and get the bus, cant do that? then miss your bus all the ***k you want.
Seems ex-Haligonian has all the answers today.. Mr. ex-Haligonian know-it-all…why don’t you shut your pie-hole…Buses leave early, just because you or some stupid book says they don’t leave early, doesn’t mean they don’t, you tool ! And just because it is against the rules to ‘lock’ passengers aboard doesn’t mean it isn’t done. Did you ever think you might be wrong? Do you believe everything you read. I’ve got something you can read .!..
Buses DO leave early. Drivers ARE rude and inconsiderate, and they DO break rules. Not all drivers all the time, but some drivers some of the time. To say this isn’t so, ex-Haligonian, is unbelievably naive. I agree that running late is often unavoidable. But leaving early is inexcusable. And don’t tell me it doesn’t happen. I have been ON buses that were waiting at a stop until it was time to leave, when the driver apparently got tired of waiting around and left 3 or 4 minutes early. It happens pretty regularly. It’s also routine to see an out of service bus sitting at the curb for 5 or 10 minutes, with the driver sitting there reading the newspaper while half a dozen people huddle in the pouring rain or freezing cold, until the driver turns on the sign and opens the door at the last possible second. He couldn’t read his paper with those people on the bus? And finally, how rigidly the rules are applied seems to have a lot to do with whether the driver likes the look of you. In my experience, I can get on the bus with a cup of coffee if I’m wearing a suit, but not if I’m wearing a baseball cap and a five o’clock shadow.
My favortite time was when I had just bought a facny coffee drink (with a dome lid and all) and was about to get on a bus (the link). The bus driver was not actually on the bus but haveing a smoke outside her bus. As a waiting outside drink my nice $5 drink, she looked at me and said “You can’t bring that on the bus”. I said back “what if I put it in my bag?” Then the bitch replied with “You can;t now that I have seen it”. I felt like pouring or throwing the drink at her to tell you the truth. Not bad even that the skank smelled of a pack of smokes.The next day on a different bus THE BUS DRIVER HAD A TIMS COFFEE RIGHT BESIDE HIM.Fuck you metro transit and your bullshit rules that the drivers cannot even follow!
Don, i completely agree with your post. I can’t count how many times i’ve seen a driver idle an empty bus and open the doors a minute before take off. Or, pull up to the bus terminal with the ‘out of service’ sign on, get out of the bus, chat to the other drivers, then drive back around the loop and let on passengers like he just got there! Doesn’t he have any compassion for the people freezing while they stand there watching him sit in the warmth of an empty bus?? I know this topic is a dead horse, but one more thing that irks me about some drivers is the lack of respect for some passengers. Each time i get on, I show my pass, make eye contact and say hello/good morning. Each and every time. Most drivers are nice enough to reciprocate, but there’s always that one that doesn’t even have the common decency to look back and you, or mutter a response. This happened every day with the same driver of the bus i took into work, for about 6 months. I’d smile and say good morning every single day, and not once did i get so much as a half-smile or eye contact. I realize that everyone has bad days, but if every day is that bad for you, maybe it’s time to cash out and take an early retirement.
Now, I’m not trying to defend all bus drivers, or Metro Transit as a whole, because I have had my fair share of horrible bus experiences. I’ve waited in the cold for 30 mins for the last bus of the night to never show up; I’ve been yelled at to get off the bus when I was clearly lost and at the end of the line; I’ve been stuck in Burnside for 90 mins just trying to get out. However, I also know that there are a lot of really nice, considerate bus drivers out there. They wait for you because they know you’re coming, they say hi and actually ask you how you are, they let you off where you’re actually going rather than the stop 20 feet away. Most of the time if you’re nice to a driver, they’re nice to you. Especially if you take the same bus all the time. I think that we put too much pressure on Metro Transit drivers to be nice, on time, and perfect all the time. We don’t put that kind of pressure and expectations on other services, or on ourselves. You don’t see bitches about how certain Tim Horton’s employees are always rude, and make our coffee wrong. But we know it happens. I know that I’m not always the model employee I could be, sometimes I’m having a bad day and take it out on others, some days I just don’t want to get things done, so they don’t get done. We all do it, but we make a much bigger deal about it when it happens with bus drivers.So just try and give them a break, show up early to the bus stop, and don’t expect it to be on time. Treat the drivers how you would like to be treated, but realise that they might be having a bad day/ hate mornings/really need a coffee/bathroom break/ or whatever else might be making them pissed off that day, or everyday. Hell, some of them, are probably stuck being drivers when they really want to be doing something else for a living, like most of us.
I’ve read plenty a bitch about Tim’s employees, and i agree with them all.
Real mature reply Scott. I never said drivers don’t leave early, what I pointed out is that possibly the bus passing by his stop 10 minutes early was the last scheduled bus that was running late. How complicated is that to understand? Nothing will ever change unless passengers continue to call in on each and every incident. Sitting on your asses and hoping the problem will resolve itself won’t do a thing. And for locking the door with passengers aboard, if you need to exit the bus and find the front door won’t open with a firm push from the center, there is an emergency relaease valve thats clearly marked. Break the glass and turn the handle then push the door. Not real complicated for you I hope.As for drivers sitting with the out of service sign then doing the loop or pulling ahead to the stop, they are allowed to do it. If their paddle card (shift sheet) says they have 5 minutes between the end of one route and the start of the next then they are entitled to do it passenger-free. I just moved back from a larger city where the attitudes of bus drivers were 10x what you guys complain about. I was driving charter, shuttle and commuter buses and while friendly and outgoing I certainly didn’t let the passengers run me over with all their crying over being 2 or 3 minutes late. Traffic tieups happen, accidents happen, buses get caught in the traffic especially in Halifax where you don’t have much choice when trying to reroute buses.
Ex-Hali, I got that information from the Metro Transit information line…and from a Metro Transit rep at the Metro Transit Information line.If you have to break glass and use an emergency release valve I would say that is pretty “locked”, wouldn’t you?
“As for drivers sitting with the out of service sign then doing the loop or pulling ahead to the stop, they are allowed to do it. If their paddle card (shift sheet) says they have 5 minutes between the end of one route and the start of the next then they are entitled to do it passenger-free.”Noone ever said they were breaking the rules, it’s just rude is all.
Christopher – did you actually try and push open the door? If not how would you know it was “locked”? Actually locked is sort of incorrect seeing how its only being held shut by a hydraulic cylinder. The driver should be releasing the air from a valve below his window then opening/closing the door by pushing/pulling on the door panels when he/she vacates the bus with passengers on board. The emergency valve does the same except its in reach of passengers should the driver be incapacitated in an accident etc.Re. getting info from a “Metro Transit rep.”… there are no transit reps at the HRM call centre, its not even located in the transit operations centre. You get a municipal call centre employee who is also given the task of dealing with garbage/recycling, permits, water/sewer questions, tourism info, etc. They are by no means Metro Transit employees or trained by transit. My suggestion when needing to file a formal complaint is to take the #52 Burnside and get off at the bus garage on Ilsley, walk in the front doors and walk up the stairs to the administration offices (during business hours) or speak to the guy at the window on the ground floor (after hours).And poop – its not rude whatsoever, the driver is scheduled to be out of service which means empty so too bad for those who thinks its rude. I might think its rude that Sobeys won’t open their doors an hour early when they have staff already in the store but the sign says it opens at 7am and its only 6am. The bus says out of service for a reason so my suggestion would be to dress for the weather, bundle up or bring an umbrella.
Metro Transit was sued by a passenger, who had hot coffee spilled on he/she, by another passenger. They won the lawsuit…that’s why the drivers are stringent about the beverages, and the only ones passengers can bring aboard are in permanent to-go cups. This policy does NOT apply to drivers, only passengers. The policy was changed by the city, not Metro Transit…who do you think paid up?? Get your cappuccino in a steel cup that YOU bring, and all will be right with the world, according to Metro Transit reg’s.
Hey ummm…..Vicky….. It was not a cappuccino it was a cold drink complete with a dome lid that does not fall off easy. Why do people assume things so easily?
I thought cappuccino was a fancy coffee…I assumed because I’m Siciliana, used to the fancy stuff…an everyday thing in my family, that’s all…sheesh…
a cold fancy coffee, whether it be a cappuccino, or whatever it may be, is really good in a steel cup…stays much colder, and good for the trash problem we have on our planet…I’m just sayin’…I take one to work in the spring and summer, cheaper from home, and better than most places selling it. ps…any reasonable person would equate fancy coffee=cappuccino, maybe you need a puff instead to counteract the effects of caffeine…in a steel mug, and all is right with the world, according to Metro Transit reg’s…the original point of my post…hot or cold