h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

(I think this is one where what's expected of the driver, and the expectations of the passengers, are so utterly at odds with each other that it can only end in tears and bad feeling.)

You have hit the nail on the head.
I did a search on the net and found a load of study's that show that the problem is the different expectations of:-

1. the driver

2. the law

3. the bosses


Even then you can break it down even more ie:-

nice old lady wants you to drive slow and wait for her to sit down but bloke late for work wants you to amber gamble and put your foot down.

And to top it off we as drivers are expected to make up time by puting our foot down, but if you ask your employer they say you should never speed but then give you grief for running late, and now a notice has gone up saying there will be random speed checks.

So as you can see and these study's back this up, the problem is the driver is being pulled in about 10 different directions which accounts for massive stress levels and sickness.

Here's a fact for you, 90% of drivers who start driving before 30 will have to retire on health grounds.

So as you can see from the above the stress levels are quite high so the 5 mins we can get to ourselves are priceless, we know you have been waiting for our bus but we need the breather (we can't leave till the departure time anyhow) so when we see you tapping watches moaning etc. it annoy's us because at the most it is only 45 mins of your day, where we are doing it day in day out, waiting an extra 5 mins for the driver does not seem to much to ask for.

Hi again,,,erm,what do ya mean speed checks ?,,,,has your depot got buses that excede 30 mph ??

I can appreciate the arguments advanced by bus drivers and others! (Nice to have a forum where we can openly debate!)

But an infuriating situation.

I'm temporarily laid up by something painful, possibly a swollen joint, that's making walking painful and running is out of the question.

Just as I lurched/limped out of the top of Heaton Moor Road onto Wellington Road (the A6) to turn left and walk maybe 150 yards down to the 192 bus-stop, a 192 bus passed me.

When that happens, the thought is "OK, one of these things, can't get to the stop in time, let this one pass, can't be helped"

Then a car passed, then a second 192. I was STILL nowhere near the stop.


Thoughts crossing my mind were "This is annoying. Can't they space themselves out a bit more intelligently than that?"

And then a THIRD 192, seemingly super-glued to the back-bumper of the second, and I was STILL nowhere near the stop...

Thoughts: "This is totally taking the pi$$!" as I tried to get third bus in the sequence to be aware that I wanted to catch a 192, would the driver PLEASE consider pulling into the stop and waiting for me as running was beyond my personal abilities right now and I have a legitimate (though temporary) reason to sit in the "disabled" seats up front?

I tried to convey this by frantically waving an arm to attract the driver's attention and get the "stop, please" message over to him... but like the two in front, the bugger pulled up for long enough to let passengers off, then speeded off himself.

Thoughts: unprintable.

After a fifteen minute wait at the stop, another bus turned up that I could travel on... but idf they'd spaced themselves out to live up to the "one every five minutes" boast of the 192 route. Maybe they just mean one every fifteen minutes "on average"....

Update: the 22 is no more and has indeed been replaced by buses that only do stages of the original route, which is logical and makes sense - if I want to get from Stockport to Bolton quickly, I'll go on the train. Faster. Our new bus is the 25, which follows the old Stockport-Bolton route from Stockport Bus Station and terminates at the God-awful shrine to consumerism, the Trafford Centre. Far faster, on time, and more reliable!