dear bus drivers of the lower mainland,
HEY.
STOP TRYING TO KILL ME.
SERIOUSLY.
Before I go on, I should say that a good many of you are awesome. Helpful, funny, thoughtful, gracious, skilled… oh yes. You are a credit to your profession. I’ve really enjoyed watching you do what you do.
But as someone who has been on Vancouver buses for more than a decade — and in all three zones — let me say that many of you could use some remedial driving classes. Or maybe just a less violent sense of humour.
I’m not sure if you’ve just been dealt a bad hand in terms of vehicle quality (I’m sure that’s the case at times, and that’s not your fault) but the way you operate the buses MUST be having a fairly negative effect on their functionality.
You brake like you couldn’t make out the stop light from a block away. You take corners like Mario Andretti. You weave haltingly through traffic like you were a Yugo and not a giant death rocket with 40 people inside. You cross into other lanes like you don’t see the lines on the road. You drive too fast, merge too slow, stop unnecessarily, and refuse to stop for no reason at all. I’ve twice been on buses that have caused accidents with a fair amount of damage… and yes, it was the driver in error.
And with some of you, it’s not just the driving.
I’ve seen you yell at old ladies who moved too slowly to sit down. I’ve seen you kick people off for being a dime short who commute peacefully with me every morning. I’ve seen you keep up a running commentary on the appearance of everyone who got on or off the bus. I’ve seen you scream at people who couldn’t pull their wheelchairs into place properly (”Haven’t you been a cripple for a while now?”) I’ve seen you get off the bus to become involved in physical altercations with people who weren’t even ON the bus. I’ve seen you throw things and break things that were owned by your riders. I’ve seen you refuse to put down the wheelchair ramp because you were “running late.” I’ve seen you bellow at young mothers who were struggling with their strollers. I’ve seen you refuse to listen to people who couldn’t speak English, and refuse to speak English to people you didn’t like.
Yes. You’re human. We all get fed up at times.
But when your job is to drive safely and interact with the public in a polite and efficient manner, then I’m sad to say a great many of you are failing miserably. Not just slipping up now and then, but showing a total and complete lack of concern for any standards in your job.
I pay too much every month to feel this unsafe.
I don’t have another option economically or locationally, so I’m going to keep riding. And I’ve done my part by calling you guys in when things really got out of hand, as with the time I told you a man was smoking in the back of the bus, and you kicked him off at my stop after informing him I was the one who let you know.
I really enjoyed being followed by a screaming man. Thanks. It’s good I wasn’t some old lady, because I doubt she’d have felt comfortable to yell right back.
But according to my ideals, being a union shop should give you PRIDE in what you do, not an excuse to take advantage of job protections. If you’re too stressed to do it, you need to move on. That’s what the rest of us have to do, too.
It’s just that most of us, when we get stressed at work, don’t have multiple lives in our hands.
Like mine.
Yours,
Meg
September 27th, 2007 at 9:37 am
take the seabus, meg! be the QUEEN OF THE WORLD!!
September 27th, 2007 at 10:43 am
YOU GO GIRL!!! As always eloquantly written.
September 27th, 2007 at 11:17 am
THANK you. AMEN to that. I don’t even take the bus, I am a commuter with my own car, but holy jeebus… I hate some bus drivers around here with the burning passion of a thousand fiery suns.
My favourite was the guy who decided to lane change without indicating or shoulder checking his blind spot. (Don’t get me wrong though, I am well aware that he’s not the only bus driver to do that. All of them seem to think that lane changing on a whim without checking to see whose vehicle they might mangle is their God-given RIGHT) This bus driver in particular swerved his bus directly into where the side of my car would have been, had I not swerved onto the other side of the road and nearly caused an accident myself trying to avoid him. And then had the nerve to flip ME the bird. Excuse me?
I know that those buses have a yield sign on the back of their buses. It apparently gives them some sort of power trip though. I wish they would remember that the yield sign is on the BACK of their bus. That means cars behind them have to stop and allow them in, but the buses still have to allow the cars BESIDE them to move ahead instead of squashing right into the side of them.
September 27th, 2007 at 11:42 am
You sooo,need to get this one read on the radio. It is so true. I don’t ride the bus much but, the thing that I see constantly (everyday at least once, if not 3-5 times) walking to work is buses flying through yellow and red lights. No regard for the pedestrians that have the walk light, just an intent on getting through the light like it’s their almighty given right, and all others be damned.
The other thing I see continually is that they block the intersection and/or walk way when turning the corner. Like they couldn’t wait the few extra seconds until they get the green light but nooooo, they block the intersection so the pedestrians have to walk out in the intersection or into the lane of traffic.
I honestly wonder what kind of driver training any of them take to get that job.
It makes me crazy.
September 28th, 2007 at 6:40 am
I have worked in several customer service jobs and it always drives me absolutely insane when people in other service jobs act as though they are doing you a favor or as though you are a source of irriation to them rather than their SOURCE OF INCOME.
I worked for a utility company where not only was I protected by the union from any complaints against me but people didn’t have any choice about whether to use our company or not. But I still treated customers politely and tried to maintain my composure even when they were rude and obnoxious. Stress isn’t an excuse to do any less.
September 28th, 2007 at 7:32 am
Lady, I’m going to ask you one more time to step back behind the yellow line.
September 28th, 2007 at 8:07 am
Yeah, I’ve worked in lots of people/service jobs, and I don’t get the sense of entitlement. Yes, it’s incredibly stressful and weird and dirty, etc… but YOU KNEW IT WOULD BE. YOU SIGNED UP TO DO IT. If it makes you a horrible person, you might need a different job!
October 1st, 2007 at 9:48 am
Having lived in and ridden the buses about New York, London, Seattle, San Francisco, and Honduras (ack, the worst!) I have to believe it is not the fine drivers of Vancouver but something about being around that much diesel. Seems universal. Except for the screaming cigarette smoker. I’ve only seen that in Greece. :)
October 22nd, 2007 at 12:55 pm
Meg, as an ex driver with Coast Mountain Bus Company, I totally agree with your complaint. I quit because of the poor quality of drivers being put into such an important roll for our cities. After seventeen years I’ve watched the quality of driver dwindle to a state that is not ony dangerous to the riding public but to all the public in general. Try being a professional driver and having to be classed with the moronic idiots that are been hired in the last eight to ten years. For my own sanity and safety and for yours too. I strogly suggest you find an alternate means of transportation such as job ride share or something similar. All the best to you!