A Conversation for A Bus Driver's Guide for Passengers

Regional Variations

Post 1

Babs

Might I just point out that your entry doesnt quite hold true everywhere in the country. Due to change in EU Law regarding the demarkation of Bus Stops, here in Brighton and Hove (where we possibly have the best public transport system anywhere in the United Kingdom) there are no longer any flags marked as Compulsory or Request stops. Indeed, Compulsory stops have been abolished altogether! Today, bus stop flags are simply marked as just that - with the words 'Bus Stop'.


Regional Variations

Post 2

Willy13

Thankyou, Babs. I did mention that compulsory stops are rare. In Oxford, where I live, there are only compulsory stops in one place, simply because every bus in Oxford passes that point. There are actually five stops in each direction covering 16 different routes. Obviously this can be very confusing to passengers. The stop is compulsory so that buses don't go straight past if the stops are congested, and so that anyone who is at the stops can find the correct bus. The stops aren't actually marked as compulsory but it is the instruction from the company to drivers that they stop there regardless.


Regional Variations

Post 3

AgProv2

And when travelling west out of Chester, you enter the outer suburb of Saltney - technically a village, but now absorbed into the city. As you pass a normal-looking crossroads with a furniture store on one side, without any warning at all, the road markings begin to tell you that you are also at a Safle Bwsiau, and the bus stops suddenly become bilingual, pointing you towards Lleneurgein/Ewloe, Y Bwcle/Buckley and Yr Wyddgrug/Mold. There is a modest sign halfway up a lamp-post that tells you you have now left Cheshire and have entered the Sir Y fflint: oposite that furniture warehouse which is the last outpost of England, there is a Llyfrgell/Public Library, which is obliged to have a certain amount of its stock available in the Welsh language.

Bilingual buses in North Wales are quite good fun and even more so the further West you travel. East of about Conwy, the convention is that the English signage is given first, followed by the Welsh. To the west and south of Conwy, the reverse applies: Welsh first, English second (if at all). While it isn't mandatory, knowing enough Welsh to be able to count your cash and ask for the fare is usually approved of and can make for a more pleasant trip. (east of Conwy, English is fine: as often as not the bus driver is English and out of Chester, so using Welsh can throw them)


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