Forum Topic

Standard of bus drivers

Is it just my imagination or is the general standard of the driving by bus drivers declining ?.  Occasionally I get the 267 to or from work, including this morning, and on several occasions now I've actually felt scared by the questionable driving competence of the driver.  One in a blue moon I could understand it, but it seems to keep happening.Now I've never driven a bus, so maybe I have no idea what it's really like, but do journeys really have to be so uncomfortable with the bus lurching forward, breaking sharply without reason or generally being driven as though it's a tank on a military exercise ?!.

Adam Beamish ● 4599d16 Comments

I usually say "thank you" to the driver if there's not too many passengers in the way when I leave the bus. I first noticed gesture in New York in 1990.JL

Jim Linwood ● 4597d

Also got to add I hate her doing the job and since she's done it our relationship has gone downhill as the working conditions are so sh**

Paul Phillips ● 4597d

Right I'm going to start this off calmly and not get personal at you Vanessa Smith. In fact most people apart from the obvious racist who moaned about the mobile phone had valid points but also don't know the whole story hence my maybe over-long rant. I never once said the standards were better or worse now, I was trying to point out the reasons why and which you point to as well, which boil down to IMHO TFL mostly and the companies and also the general public both as passengers and road users. I am old enough to remember the olde LT and their training of drivers, from the point of actually driving, was much better but after they completed that training that was it now you have to also have a CPC licence which has to be tested/trained for every 5 years. Also in the good olde days there was less traffic on the roads, people were politer (when was the last time you saw the 1st person at the bus stop get on the bus and the others follow in order?) oh and there was also a conductor to assist the driver and passengers. So just because your husband WAS a bus driver doesn't mean you know what it's like now! Also the idea of the TFL inspectors not being in uniform is so the drivers don't know they are inspectors, doh! Adam as in your other post about planning I thought you have valid points and like you, was writing initially to put some perspective on the initial post and subsequent answers.

Paul Phillips ● 4597d

Consider yourself ignored Sarah...;)

Phil Andrews ● 4597d

Maybe it is one of those questions better not asked, in which case ignore me.  What does 'just offered to roger his missus' mean?

Sarah Felstead ● 4597d

I call out a thank you when leaving the bus ... and I do the same to the girl looking after the self serve checkouts in Tesco ... mind you I often hold conversations with my sat Nav too.  :-)

Sarah Felstead ● 4597d

I always shout a 'Thankyou' to the driver when getting off if it has not been a badly driven journey,which it usually isn't.I rarely see anyone else do this on a bus but many people do this in Preston where I am from.Maybe it's a northern thing.

Keith Iddon ● 4597d

In spite of your rant - the fact is that standards HAVE got worse since privatisation whether you accept that or not. I allow for your age - as you may be too young to remember the halcyon days of London Transport which incidentally was originally formed to stop the chaos of loads of private companies. The wheel has come full circle, no-one is saying that drivers don't put up with a load of cr*p, the difference is that their terms and conditions were far better then and they had a strong trades union. They may have inspectors as you claim, but how does a member of the paying public identify who the hell they are so thay can make enquiries, get information etc. if there aren't any in some sort of uniform? Don't be so rude as to assume that we don't know what we're talking about either, my husband was a bus driver for over twenty years, so I think that actually means I do know something, don't make assumptions.............

Vanessa Smith ● 4598d

Paul,When I started this thread I did stress that I was talking generally, that I only occasionally use the bus, that I've never driven a bus etc.  I also said that if it happened once in a blue moon that was understandable, as you say no doubt the majority of drivers are very good.Certainly I have alot of sympathy for bus drivers, it must be a nightmare driving a bus full of school kids during the rush hour, and as I've also said on here before the standard of car driving is in my view decreasing and many bad car drivers have absolutely no respect for buses.  Indeed the bad bus driving I've experienced recently reminds me very much of bad driving of some car drivers, who seem to focus their driving upon what is immediately in front of them, not reviewing the road/traffic conditions further ahead to adjust accordingly.  I'm very much aware there are always two sides to every story - after all I am the ex Council planning officer who was the subject of John Kerr's 'interesting' rants on the other thread (which I will resist commenting upon further).

Adam Beamish ● 4598d

Cor you lot are terrible. 2 posts and you're all ranting about things you don't know about. 1st yes there are bad bus drivers, there are also (the majority) a lot of drivers who are very good and well trained but are under tremendous pressure because of TFL and the companies (mostly TFL). When I say pressure I'm talking about bad structure of timetables eg 237 given 12 minutes to get from Brentford High Street to Busch Corner and 8 minutes Busch Corner to Hounslow High Street. Dealing with passengers not paying for which company gets fined disproportionately by TFL, general traffic on the roads etc. For which if the drivers don't comply deal with they get disciplined.As for the braking there are now machines on most buses spying on the drivers, their driving standards are recorded and if deemed to be bad drivers they are duly  disciplined. Also each bus brakes differently look at the difference when you drive different cars!Xanthe all buses have cctv now in the drivers cab as well and these are monitored if a complaint is made, so if you have seen a driver on a mobile report them and they will be sacked straight away. Most drivers wouldn't flout this law because of the consequences. Also buses can't do more than 45mph and have the acceleration of a snail.Vanessa the drivers are still subject to inspectors difference is that instead of wearing a uniform they dress like any one else on the bus. Again if not up to standard it is reported and the driver is disciplined. Yes the companies make a profit but are penalised at every opportunity by TFL and running a bus company at a profit can't be easy.Want to know how I know all this? Because my partner is a driver and the shit she has to put up with from the public, the company, TFL and the union they should be on double what they are now. At this moment in time she is on a reasonable wage but is constantly worried for her job because the company is looking to get rid of drivers on her payscale and replace them with lower paid employees because their profits are being cut by TFL.Bit like the stuff being flung at the ex planning officer in the other post. Don't talk bollocks unless you know what you're talking about especially when you've been shown why.Rant over till answered :-)

Paul Phillips ● 4598d

The drivers on the 267 have always been awful. I was once sitting on the top deck of one and watched an entire queue at a bus stop leap backwards as the bus hurtled straight at them.

Susan Kelly ● 4598d

The problem started with the demise of the London Transport Executive and the privatisation of services. LTE oversaw the training and subsequent behaviour and driving standards of drivers. There were plain clothes inspectors who rode various routes as paying passengers to observe and report on drivers. Remember the inspectors on points at bus stops? When did you last see anything like that? At once time you could have gone and reported issues to them -not any more, it's phone here, there and God knows where to speak to someone who generally doesn't give a toss. All these companies are interested in is money, service always comes a long way down the list as does decent conditions and wages for staff, so is it any wonder standards have slipped? They know the public have no option so why should they give a damn? Similarly the railways  - privatised but enjoying £4 BILLION subsidy from the taxpayer, nice work if you can get it.................

Vanessa Smith ● 4598d

Report any issues here:http://www.fixmytransport.com/They will be sent to TfL.JL.

Jim Linwood ● 4599d

It is not your imagination that standards have fallen imo.There are several factors to take into account,the main ones being the pressures the drivers are put unbder to meet schedules and their poor terms and conditions,They are on low wages,especially when compared to train drivers and suffer this differential more for the reason that there are many mnore of them than there are train drivers.I would think it is a pretty thankless task to be a bus driver in London but having said that you shouldn't feel unsafe on a bus due to poor the poor driving standard of the driver.

Keith Iddon ● 4599d

I must admit I'm not too fussed about the quality of driving as the bus is big enough to take care of itself and it's cheaper than a trip to Thorpe Park - and one doesn't usually have to wait quite so long for the ride.But I do wish some of the drivers would cheer up a little.  I don't expect them to be signing "Oh what a beautiful morning" as they negotiate the often horrendous queues along Brentford High Street, but when I say "Good morning" as I board it would be nice for the greeting to be returned, or even to receive a smile every now and again rather than be glared at by the surly man at the wheel as though I had just offered to roger his missus.

Phil Andrews ● 4599d

It's not your imagination though the standards having been slipping for some years.  I've got off some buses, usually 237s, at Kew Bridge because they career along Kew Bridge bus lane as if it is a F1 race track with bus lurching and wobbling and I fear for my life.  I have visions of bus tipping over as it zooms round Chiswick roundabout.Not experienced dodgy driving techniques from the 267 - used to be the 237 and definitely the 65 and one crazy 27 driver who managed to floor me even though I was seated at the time - I fell off the seat.  I'm sure he was on 'something' as he was very twiddley, seemed wired and kept fiddling with his timetable chart and swore every time he had to stop at a red light but he was French.  I even had an altercation with him about his driving.  He was shouting and swearing as I got off the bus – two passing blobbies  looked at me, glanced at him, put their heads down and plodded on. I used to yell at drivers reminding them of speed limit, etc and then took to reporting them via TfL complaints - I noted down the bus number on the side panel near the driver compartment. It seems to me that if some drivers, usually ones from warmer climes, see a 50 yard clear road in front of them they floor the accelerator only to have to break sharply because of traffic lights whilst others play about popping their clutch.  My biggest bug-bear is bus drivers who chat on their mobiles whilst driving.Driving a bus is like every these days.  Test passed; check list ticked off and off they go with no thought to the mind-set of the driver.  And all these bus drivers we have these days from different parts of the globe have different mind-sets even though they've passed the bus driving test.

Xanthe West ● 4599d