I don’t usually pick on transit operators or passengers but after 14 trips on our system today I need to make a few comments:
Transit operators changing shifts around 1pm today – Don’t piss off the passengers on the 52 Burnside by demanding the driver wait for your co-workers as they slowly make they way off their buses at the end of their shifts. The bus was almost 10 minutes late getting to the bridge terminal and one of your older female drivers felt the need to get off the 52 and walk around the terminal and trailer to see if any other drivers wanted a ride. Do like the rest of us and wait for the next bus if you miss your connection but don’t make us later than the bus already was.
Passengers – I noticed a few reasons why buses get behind schedule even though traffic is light:
Waiting at the bus stop? Have your money or pass ready for boarding. You’ve been at the stop a couple of minutes anyway and it just dawned on you that you have to pay to get on?
Getting off the bus at the next stop? Be ready in advance. The rest of us don’t appreciate being held back while you slowly figure out how to get yourself and baggage out of the seat, into the aisle and out the door. If possible be at the door when the bus gets to the stop, thats what the stanchions (poles), rails and seatback handles are for, to steady yourself when the bus is still moving. Transit system operators would close the door and take you to the next stop if you dragged your ass in Montreal, Calgary or other large cities who understand the need to keep on time.
Exiting – I don’t care if you use the front or back door to exit but those waiting to enter the bus at the front should wait for people to exit first. You’ll save time if we don’t have two-way traffic fighting in both directions and its been a long-standing bit of transit etiquette for those wishing to board to stand aside and let those using the front door to come down the stairs first.
And on a few other topics – The newer buses are equipped with air conditioning so opening all the windows lets the cold air out before it ever gets away from the vents located just above the windows. However one or two windows open at the back will trick the auto climate system into thinking it needs to pump out more cold air… great on those really hot/muggy days.
Manners at the bus stops – even in a rush-rush city like Montreal people wait in single file to board the buses in a first come, first on basis. Is there a reason people feel the need to rush the door like cattle, often mowing over the elderly and youngsters?
Strollers – Parents, please buy a non-SUV-sized model for taking on the buses! I was on a bus today that had 4 large strollers blocking the aisle in front and by the rear doors. You can get a quality small sized stroller at Sears and other merchants for under $80. The large ones simply impede other passengers and make it look like you don’t care about anyone else’s ability to use the buses.
— voice_of_reason
This article appears in Jul 23-29, 2009.
You can get small strollers for older kids, not for infants. Slings and snugglys work well tho.
There are so many things that metro transit can do to improve. We need to take it as it is.
Drivers that travel with their spouses can also make the bus late. I have been on buses that the spouse is nothing but a fucking nuisance babbling on and on about foolishness and then the driver will stop the bus to run to Tim Hortons for a cup of coffee for himself and the babbling bitch and then I end up between one half to one hour late for work and complaints do nothing for me.
To the idiot who posted the orange tag on the bitch, fuck you and your thinking that the only stuff that is interesting is stuff that concerns yourself. Transit users are entitled to an improved, on-time method of transportation and I’m not exactly sure you are an expert on what is a valid transit concern.
Bon: There is a sure-fire way to make sure your complaints are taken seriously: make sure your contact info is included and demand a call back from a supervisor. Take the file number from the call centre employee and give them 72 hours to reply. No reply? Call back and demand to be patched through to a transit supervisor, it can be done and I’ve used that method on occasion to get satisfaction from transit.
You have to provide your contact info as the union contract states that annonymous complaints cannot result in discipline action against a driver, mechanic or bus washer.
Another avenue is to call 490-6952, their public affairs number on Ilsley, push 0 if no one answers and request immediate transfer to a manager. Of course this only works during daytime Mon. to Fri.
Wow, v_o_r, you must spend a lot of time logging complaints! It kind of sucks that you have to go through all that just to make a complaint!
Thanks for the advice, OP.
Voice of reason I have already did all that and still have had no satisfaction. I still see the same drivers that I have complained about with their spouse,5 drivers in particular. If I brought my spouse to work with me I would be fired. Our union takes complaints seriously.
I hardly think this bitch is tedious, but I am biased here.
I agree with this bitch 100%, yes, even about the drivers. The vast majority of drivers know when the 52 leaves in either direction and know to watch for it if it’s late. Save the messenger for if and when the bus is early, or close to on time.
BTW, for those of you out for blood, MT will never discuss the level of discipline of an employee with the pubic. This is how it is at most jobs, it’s a privacy thing.
I agree with all the complaints! There’s a woman at Lacewood every morning who is the last one to the bus stop but somehow manages to be the first one on the bus and snags the last seat. Another bitch, people at the front who (pretend) to sleep so they don’t have to get up when an elderly passenger gets on!
“To the idiot who posted the orange tag on the bitch, fuck you and your thinking that the only stuff that is interesting is stuff that concerns yourself.”
Realise this is The Coast’s website. The Coast magazine’s website. The same Coast magazine that has been free for the last 90000 yrs because no one would waste their money on a book of advertisements and skewed opinions. Let them have their moment, it’s about all they have going…
People who don’t get up for elderly people or people with disabilities piss me off so much!!
And parents who let their kids run rampant screaming and hollering on the bus too.
And people who block the doors and don’t move when you want to get off.
And bus drivers who punch the gas before your kids have sat down so they go flying.
This is considered tedious and uninteresting because none of this is new. We’ve seen all of this as either another bitch, or comments on one of the other bus bitches. If you’re really gonna make us put up with another bus bitch, think of something novel, or at least use some fun and bitchin language.
PDG I dont like being late for work and my boss phoning me home to find out why I am not at work meanwhile I am stuck on a bus with an annoying driver who doesnt seem to understand that his spouse is not supposed to travel with him standing beside acting like a fool. There is nothing in your Collective Agreement the says this behavior is allowed. I have seem the same 5 drivers with the same spouse over and over and I have made complaints to MT and nothing changes.
The other day two young women brought about 6 kids under 8 on the bus…..the kids were sitting on each other at the back while they sat at the front, they were sliding of the seat and falling in the aisles etc.
WE transfer buses.
The bus driver was moving slowly due to traffic but I constantly watched the adult’s chat and chat and chat not paying attention to the kids, I sat close enough to catch one if they fell…
Then….
..one child maybe 3.5 walks up to the front and slipped on the wet floor on her back hit her head on the floor and legs all flailing and the adults laughed….
The driver was mortified..I gave him my name and number in case they ‘decided’ they could make a fast boke…he was ever so thankful……
I despise negligent adults and they are everywhere on the bus..
Bon, if you’re THAT late for work that your boss is calling you at home to find out where the fuck you are, perhaps taking an earlier bus might help. I know, it’s a crazy idea, isn’t it?
Bon – I’d better ask: how did you file these complaints? Through the call centre number?
Pretty Kitty I shoulnt have to leave extra early for work because MT cant control what their drivers are doing.
Bon – there is nothing is the collective agreement that prevents the spouse from travelling on the bus, however management could enforce the payment of fare or even the new rule #6 on the back of MetroPasses which states passes are not intended for uninterrupted round trips. But as a commercial vehicle driver I can tell you that you’ll never be able to prove the spouse is the reason for delays. The driver is responsable for safe operation of the bus/truck/whatever and if that means driving slower then he/she is in the right.
The entire Local 508 collective agreement can be read here: http://www.atucanada.ca/content_Resources_…
It is very unprofessional for a bus driver to bring his spouse to work with him. He woulnt have to drive slow if she wasnt distracting him with her babbling foolishness that could be babbled about when they got home. I dont travel with my husband and I never will.
There used to be this scraggly bum who hung out on the number 7 bus and always babbled away to the driver, causing the driver to always drive so fucking slowly and therefore be late. I hated that guy. Why don’t Metro Transit buses have signs saying something like “Please do not talk to the driver”? I’m sure the drivers would like it too as it’d cut down on the number of weirdos they have to “politely” deal with (I’ve found most bus drivers here in Halifax to be quite nice).
MT should maybe get their act together but I hope you don’t tell your boss that you’re late for work because you “shouldn’t have to” leave earlier.
Signs saying don’t talk to the driver?? Yup, that’ll be real good when people need to get info on routes, transfer points or how to get to their destination.
The drivers are the front line people for Metro Transit and have no choice but to talk and deal with passengers. This isn’t some cold-hearted major city where bus drivers are locked in a soundproof enclosure, not yet anyway.
Can we put the “tedious” tag on all of Tim’s stories?
I don’t think we need the signs, as 99% of passengers don’t really talk to us outside of greetings and questions. Those that do are never on for more than an hour anyways so I chalk it up to being a part of the job.
In a perfect world, buses stay on schedule and you can take the bus that will get you there on time. We are not in a perfect world. Constructions, accidents, mechanical breakdowns, traffic volume, incidents on the bus, lights, cameras, action, etc… can and do affect the bus. There is no 100% way of knowing for certain that the bus you get on will be on time. It is for that reason that I always recommend people get on the bus before the one that gets you there on time. If you’re early, so be it, grab a coffee or read a paper and just relax. The drivers who ride follow this rule and have little problem with it. If that bus is late, you still save yourself questions from your boss about why you’re always late on the bus. The choice is yours though, just be prepared for the consequences when and if something goes awry.