Dublin Bus

CabanSail

I have just moved to Dublin & now take public transport to & from work. One one hand the Bus is great when the traffic is so congested & parking is hard to find. The problem is Dublin Bus. Most of the drivers seem fine, but some are just unbelievable. For some reason they will just drive past a Bus Stop & not bother to pick up passengers. I have been passed by two busses in 15 minutes, even though I signalled well in advance. Neither bus was full & had empty seats. Why do they do this?

Last night I saw three girls waiting at a local Bus Stop on their way into the city. A bus that was almost empty just drove past. How do these drivers keep their jobs?

I have taken down the Plate Numbers of some that do this & rang the Customer Service number, but I doubt that does much either. Other passengers at the stop have commented that I will get used to the way Dublin Bus operate. Why should I? I am paying their wages by buying an Annual Ticket.

mcaul

The customer service number isn't great for this type of stuff - find out which garage the bus operates from (Donnybrook, Harristown etc) and speak to the duty manager there. From experience it seems the complaint will be taken more seriously and the driver can be asked about it immediatley upon his return. Details of all disciplinary porblems are kept on a register.

bmaxi

.From my days on the buses, back in the days when it was still bad ol' C.I.E. I can tell you that there were people who would go to extraordinary lengths to avoid carrying passengers. It was down to a combination of laziness, bad manners and lack of discipline. Write to the District Manager of the Depot concerned stating the bus number, location, time, date and the nature of the complaint. The guilty party will be interviewed, he will deny it of course and will not be disciplined, but it will go on his record and if the same complaint comes in against him again it will be harder to deny and a case will be built against him. This will make him think twice. It's the usual story, people don't complain and the likes of these guys just carry on giving the rest of their decent colleagues a bad name

Red Alert

There could have been plenty of reasons not to pick up passengers. Perhaps he heard over the radio that a large number of passengers were waiting at a subsequent stop.

The drivers in Dublin Bus for the most part do a good job. It's the inept suits and marketing types who are a waste of space.

bmaxi

[HTML]Perhaps he heard over the radio that a large number of passengers were waiting at a subsequent stop.[/HTML]

Now I'm a long time left C.I.E. but I have never heard of a driver being advised, instructed or otherwise,to leave prospective customers at a stop while operating a scheduled service.

Sarsfield

Sometimes the downstairs saloon gets jam packed with morons who all want to stand at the door. The driver may not be able to see upstairs as the periscope may be unusable for such mundane reaons as a passenger placing a bag or newspaper over it. The driver may think the bus is full or simply for reasons of safety decide it's better not to pick up any more passengers.

Sometimes in the city centre people stand at the wrong bus stop. Not all buses serve all stops in the city centre.

Sometimes drivers are instructed to exercise caution at certain stops if there's been trouble reported at that stop.

On rare occasions I've seen a bus pass by a stop for reasons where I suspect the driver is to blame. Either they lost concentration briefly, or their view was obstructed by for example a parked van and by the time they see a waiting passenger it's too late to dump the brakes and stop. They should be better prepared to stop on those occasions.

They're just my first thoughts.

I travel on DB several times per day and don't recall ever seeing a completely inexplicable failure to stop on request.

Xterminator

Well Sarsfield must be the luckiest DB passenger in the country, if hes never seen a passenger passed at a stop.

Unless you are couting explicable things like, the leaves on the gound were wet, and stopping was dangerous, or the busman was in a hurry?



Seriously tho, DB will never give a flying f**k about their passengers till they have to compete for them in an open market.

X

HelterSkelter

One day I was running to a bus stop one time while the bus was stopped letting passengers on and off. The driver clearly saw me running but didn't wait for me. He closed the doors and pulled away just as I got to the stop pretending not to see me. I got the next bus which managed to overtake the bus with the ignorant driver. So when I got into town I waited until the rude ignorant driver showed up, got on his bus and gave him a piece of my mind. I think he was in total shock and it made me feel much better!!

HelterSkelter

Xterminator wrote:

Seriously tho, DB will never give a flying f**k about their passengers till they have to compete for them in an open market.

X

I was on a bus in Liverpool before and the driver would stop for passengers who signalled for the bus to stop no matter where they were. Some people who were on the opposite side of the road and he even stopped for them and waited for them to cross the road! That's what competition does and they actually have to work for their money.

jdivision

Buses do on occasion go past without stopping. I find it's usually when they're already late and want to get back on schedule but then I, having already been waiting for a late bus, have to wait even longer for another one. Unreal. The worst that happened me was that I got onto a bus where the driver was changing and the new driver said to just walk a few steps down to the bus stop proper. A few minutes later, he drove off leaving me and four other people standing at the bus stop going wtf?

Noopti

Anyone use the 16/16a bus route?

It's a joke, the buses are rarely on time and sometimes they go completely different routes "due to traffic", even if the traffic is fine. They are supposed to be roughly every 15 minutes, but you could just miss one and end up waiting 30 mins or more for another one to arrive. Of course, when it does arrive it is invariably accompanied by two more 16 buses right behind it.

Do the drivers of the next 3 buses all have a fag and chat at the depot before heading off in convoy or something?

I have also been passed by half empty buses on multiple occasions, despite signalling clearly that I want to get on the bus. I have also seen a bus driver tell a woman to shut her kid up(those exact words) when it was crying.

I have found that complaining does nothing, they all back each other up and nothing gets done about it.

Kivun Sotilas

CabanSail wrote:

I have just moved to Dublin & now take public transport to & from work. One one hand the Bus is great when the traffic is so congested & parking is hard to find. The problem is Dublin Bus. Most of the drivers seem fine, but some are just unbelievable. For some reason they will just drive past a Bus Stop & not bother to pick up passengers. I have been passed by two busses in 15 minutes, even though I signalled well in advance. Neither bus was full & had empty seats. Why do they do this?

Last night I saw three girls waiting at a local Bus Stop on their way into the city. A bus that was almost empty just drove past. How do these drivers keep their jobs?

I have taken down the Plate Numbers of some that do this & rang the Customer Service number, but I doubt that does much either. Other passengers at the stop have commented that I will get used to the way Dublin Bus operate. Why should I? I am paying their wages by buying an Annual Ticket.

I feel your pain. I moved to Dublin in May and wish I could drive just to avoid paying Dublin Bus one cent. The other day I was on a bus which was pretty much empty. The bus driver was shouting at some guy for not paying as he got on the bus while we were stopped at a bus stop. He had already let 2 girls on the bus and closed the door while the rest of their friends were getting on to avoid letting the guy who didn't pay out of the bus. After the guy paid, the girls were begging him to let the rest of their friends in who were queued outside the door waving for him to let them in. He just said no and drove off for no reason at all.

This is a weekly occurence and I am rather disgusted by the manners of alot of the drivers. I am always polite to them but feel angry when they grunt a rude "hurry up" in return.

It irritates me that they do not give change either. I can only imagine that not many people can be bothered to go with their 20 cent refund ticket all the way to O'Connell Street. I have been saving mine since I moved here and one day hope to show up there with hundreds of them. Why should they get extra money for such crappy service. Maybe there should be a collection of these dockets to one day be brought into their office. I want to see them count and add up every single one THEN PAY WHAT THEY OWE!

I have learnt now after the few months being here never to expect a bus to be on time according to the "schedule". It makes me wonder what we as citizens can do to force Dublin Bus to clean up their act. I stopped writing down the numbers of buses that had either driven past me or been extremely rude after a few weeks knowing that nothing would ever be done.

Yesterday afternoon I was in Dublin centre waiting for a bus to get back to Swords for a very long time. The bus stop was full with about 60 people all waiting for who knows how long. There were various buses sitting at the stop with no drivers (around the same time football was being played, coincidence?) and after waiting a very long time amongst so many I took the next bus that arrived no matter where it went just to get out of there. Lucky for me it was the 43, people were literally running and pushing to get into the bus in fear there would be no others.

I could whinge even FURTHER about the Rivervalley bus service now that Forest Road there is closed but I guess anyone here affected by it already knows what a pain it is to get to work using their shuttle bus... :mad: :mad:

I thought that buses could not be any worse than the ones I used in rural villages on dirt roads when living in Hungary but DB has proven me wrong. :mad:

BendiBus

HelterSkelter wrote:

I was on a bus in Liverpool before and the driver would stop for passengers who signalled for the bus to stop no matter where they were. Some people who were on the opposite side of the road and he even stopped for them and waited for them to cross the road! That's what competition does and they actually have to work for their money.

Meanwhile, the bus is losing time on it's timetable making people late, and people having to wait even longer at stops further down the route. If DB did this they'd get lashed out of it for being unprofessional. :rolleyes:

In fact there was a big argument on the Transport forum about a DART driver waiting for a passenger. He was accused of being unprofessional. If he hadn't waited he'd have been accused of being a wanker.

How can public transport operators win?

HelterSkelter

BendiBus wrote:

Meanwhile, the bus is losing time on it's timetable making people late, and people having to wait even longer at stops further down the route. If DB did this they'd get lashed out of it for being unprofessional. :rolleyes:

In fact there was a big argument on the Transport forum about a DART driver waiting for a passenger. He was accused of being unprofessional. If he hadn't waited he'd have been accused of being a wanker.

How can public transport operators win?

Ok, I know that was an extreme case and I would not expect bus drivers to do that. I was simply using the example to illustrate the differences in the attiude of drivers towards their customers when there is some competition and their job is on the line if they don't do it properly.

Kivun Sotilas

If I created a petition for better service from Dublin Bus would anyone be willing to sign it and pass it on? I know everyone at my work would sign it.

Xterminator

BendiBus wrote:

Meanwhile, the bus is losing time on it's timetable making people late, and people having to wait even longer at stops further down the route. If DB did this they'd get lashed out of it for being unprofessional. :rolleyes:

In fact there was a big argument on the Transport forum about a DART driver waiting for a passenger. He was accused of being unprofessional. If he hadn't waited he'd have been accused of being a wanker.

How can public transport operators win?

Well anyone who deals with the public can probably tell you, it called customer service.

"The customer is not always right, but they are always the customer"
I.E. Listened to ,informed, and treated with respect at all times.

To directly answer your question about being damned if you do and damned if you dont; once consistant set of rules applied consistantly would make the issue simple.

X

Dub13

Moved from Consumer Issues.

markpb

Kivun Sotilas wrote:

After the guy paid, the girls were begging him to let the rest of their friends in who were queued outside the door waving for him to let them in. He just said no and drove off for no reason at all.

I presume you wrote to Dublin Bus with the bus number and date/time to tell them about this? There are a small number of really useless drivers in this city but as long as people rant on boards and not do anything about it, they'll keep doing it.

It irritates me that they do not give change either. I can only imagine that not many people can be bothered to go with their 20 cent refund ticket all the way to O'Connell Street. I have been saving mine since I moved here and one day hope to show up there with hundreds of them. Why should they get extra money for such crappy service. Maybe there should be a collection of these dockets to one day be brought into their office. I want to see them count and add up every single one THEN PAY WHAT THEY OWE!

Not giving change is a minor inconvenience at best. In the bad old days of change giving, drivers were attacked on a regular basis. Plus, it slows the service down hugely. Which is worse, losing 20c or several minutes of a delay at busy stops?

On the other hand, they should definitely be trying to install on-street ticket machines so you don't have to pay cash. And getting more shops to both sell tickets and accept change receipts for payment. In fact, getting more shops to sell tickets would be a start.

I have learnt now after the few months being here never to expect a bus to be on time according to the "schedule". It makes me wonder what we as citizens can do to force Dublin Bus to clean up their act.

Have you seen the traffic in our wonderful city? Or the pathetic excuses for bus lanes that the city councils have installed? Noticed any bus priority junctions that actually work? How can anyone expect DB to run a decent service when the city managers do almost nothing to help them.

I got a bus from O'Connell St to Stephens Green last night (I was lazy...) and it took over 45 minutes, not because of any problem by DB but through sheer traffic and useless road design. Since almost every bus in the city either passes through, starts or ends in the city centre, they have no chance of keeping to a timetable.

shane86

Actually much of the excess unclaimed change is given to charity and community projects.

Saw a driver in a net cafe the other night, when it came to 2 euro he fecked a far less amount of small change on the counter and litreally legged it and jumped onto a bus his mate was driving, shut the door with the lad from the cafe demanding he come back and pay. ffs ive had drivers who wont let you off 1 cent without a grunt.

senordingdong

Have to say, that's never happened to me, or anyone I know.
Thought it was just an urban myth.

CabanSail

I have been away for a while.

Interesting to read the experiences of others. I understand that the roads here in Dublin make life hell for the drivers. It also doesn't help that BMW's are allowed to clog up the Bus Lane either (I assume it's a law & not that they are just rude ignorant drivers) My experience is that MOST DB drivers are very good & professional, it's the few that give the rest a bad name. It was a Driver, when I had been passed by two busses that were empty, to get the numbers & ring the Customer Service line. His bus caught up to the last one that passed me & I was able to report him.

It would also be handy for busses that are full to have a Light on the front saying they are full. It has happened when I let a 66 bus go past as a 25X was just up the road, only to find the 25X was full & did not stop.

I think that we need to spread the word that if you get bad service, you take the number & call Customer Service. If they get a flood of calls they may do something.

senordingdong

CabanSail wrote:

It also doesn't help that BMW's are allowed to clog up the Bus Lane either (I assume it's a law & not that they are just rude ignorant drivers)

What the hell are you talking about?

Wishbone Ash

I occasionally pick up Dublin Bus radio control transmissions. Drivers are sometimes requested not to stop at a particular stop. From what I hear (I don't work for DB) it is sometimes done to try to rectify timetable delays and occasionally they are instructed not to pick up certain known troublemakers who may be at the stop with 'ordinary' passengers.

Dub13 wrote:

Moved from Consumer Issues.

This thread may be more suited to Commuting & Transport as there are a few DB drivers who regularly post there.

CabanSail

senordingdong wrote:

What the hell are you talking about?

I just see a lot of BMW's using the Bus Lane. A few other cars, but mainly BMW's. Surely they must be allowed to use it?

(or maybe they just think they are above the law)

MOH

I arrived back from holidays last Friday. Queue of about 100 people at the airport taxi rank so decided to get the bus. Since I was changing in town, didn't want to pay the 8 euro for the Aircoach, plus I have an anuual DB ticket, so went to the 747 Airlink (or whatever it's called) stop.

Bit of a queue there, bus there was full so pulled out. There was a DB guy in a yellow reflective jacket emblazoned with "Customer Information" who pointed the remaining passengers toward the next bus parked empty just behind, so we all moved up there. Driver kept the door closed, and a few minutes later moved up to the stop. We all shuffled back to the stop.

customer Information man gets on, has a chat with the driver, gets off. An English tourist asks the driver if he's giong to the city centre. Driver shuts door in his face and mutters under his breath. A middle-aged lady at the front of the queue asks Customer Information man if this is the next bus to town. He ignores her, turns his back, and walks off. Bus pulls off empty two minutes later.

Ten minutes, no sign of a bus, Customer Information muppet has vanished. Eventually a 746 pulls in. Get on, ask (foreign) driver if he goes to Bus Aras. He repeats it blankly, has never heard of Bus Aras. [note: I have absolutely nothing against foreign bus drivers, I just feel any bus driver on the airport run should know somewhere like Bus Aras that tourists may be trying to find]

Establish he's going to the city centre, will have to walk to Bus Aras for my connecting bus, but at least it's a step in the right direction, so I get on. Trying to see behind in case a 747 pulls in, but the whole back window is opaque due to being filled with a large Ryder Cup ad.

Sit there for ten minutes, during which a 747 does indeeed pull out from behind us, eventually set off into town. At which point I discover that a) this bus goes the old airport road through Santry and hideous traffic, and b) it stops at every normal bus stop on the way in.

My fault for not checking, but I assumed that the 746 and 747 were airport express buses that would only stop in town, or at a limited number of stops on the way. If they're just normal buses that stop everywhere why not give them a normal number.

In the end took well over an hour to get to town from the time I arrived at the airport. No information available, nothing but rude staff. Moany letter on the way to DB.

senordingdong

Sounds like a nightmare.
Perhaps the Dublin Bus employees who frequent the board just explain it all to us.

Wishbone Ash

MOH wrote:

I arrived back from holidays last Friday. Queue of about 100 people at the airport taxi rank so decided to get the bus. Since I was changing in town, didn't want to pay the 8 euro for the Aircoach, plus I have an anuual DB ticket, so went to the 747 Airlink (or whatever it's called) stop.

Bit of a queue there, bus there was full so pulled out. There was a DB guy in a yellow reflective jacket emblazoned with "Customer Information" who pointed the remaining passengers toward the next bus parked empty just behind, so we all moved up there. Driver kept the door closed, and a few minutes later moved up to the stop. We all shuffled back to the stop.

customer Information man gets on, has a chat with the driver, gets off. An English tourist asks the driver if he's giong to the city centre. Driver shuts door in his face and mutters under his breath. A middle-aged lady at the front of the queue asks Customer Information man if this is the next bus to town. He ignores her, turns his back, and walks off. Bus pulls off empty two minutes later.

Ten minutes, no sign of a bus, Customer Information muppet has vanished. Eventually a 746 pulls in. Get on, ask (foreign) driver if he goes to Bus Aras. He repeats it blankly, has never heard of Bus Aras. [note: I have absolutely nothing against foreign bus drivers, I just feel any bus driver on the airport run should know somewhere like Bus Aras that tourists may be trying to find]

Establish he's going to the city centre, will have to walk to Bus Aras for my connecting bus, but at least it's a step in the right direction, so I get on. Trying to see behind in case a 747 pulls in, but the whole back window is opaque due to being filled with a large Ryder Cup ad.

Sit there for ten minutes, during which a 747 does indeeed pull out from behind us, eventually set off into town. At which point I discover that a) this bus goes the old airport road through Santry and hideous traffic, and b) it stops at every normal bus stop on the way in.

My fault for not checking, but I assumed that the 746 and 747 were airport express buses that would only stop in town, or at a limited number of stops on the way. If they're just normal buses that stop everywhere why not give them a normal number.

In the end took well over an hour to get to town from the time I arrived at the airport. No information available, nothing but rude staff. Moany letter on the way to DB.

The 747 (Bus Aras) and 748 (Heuston) are express. The 746 (Airport to Dun Laoghaire) probably has the longest route (timewise) of any Dublin Bus service. If you were going (non-express) to the city centre you could also have got the 41 and got off at Lower Gardiner St which would be nearer.

When you were asking the foreign bus driver about Bus Aras, you should have referred to it as 'the central bus station'.

spareman

senordingdong wrote:

Sounds like a nightmare.
Perhaps the Dublin Bus employees who frequent the board just explain it all to us.

Explain what exactly? what do you want to know?

spareman

HelterSkelter wrote:

One day I was running to a bus stop one time while the bus was stopped letting passengers on and off. The driver clearly saw me running but didn't wait for me. He closed the doors and pulled away just as I got to the stop pretending not to see me. I got the next bus which managed to overtake the bus with the ignorant driver. So when I got into town I waited until the rude ignorant driver showed up, got on his bus and gave him a piece of my mind. I think he was in total shock and it made me feel much better!!

Glad you felt much better, luckily we driver's have learned to keep calm when stupid people like you verbally attack us.
Firstly the night staff spend all night cleaning and refueling the bus, then the depot inspector sorts out which bus is for which route etc, then the driver showers, shaves, and iorns his uniform for work, sometimes starting work at 5am, then ensures he leave's the terminus at the correct time as indicated in the timetable, and you have the cheek to moan at him because you were not at the stop in time?
Was that his fault?
Some routes have a very short gap between buses, the stillorgan road for example between 8am and 9am has a city bound bus every 2 mins or so. So if the driver waits for you he is then late by time you rummble the change ouuta your pocket etc, then he picks up 1 extra passenger at the next stop who wouldnt have been there if he didnt wait for you, then 2 at the next stop and so on, eventually the bus behind him catches up and guess what?
Someone just like you is at the next stop and decides to have a go at the driver as his waiting ages then 2 buses come together.
were dammed if we do and were dammed if we dont.

ChillyS

To be honest bussing it is a total nightmare for me, on the whole it's not the bus drivers i have a problem with, it's the timetables. The 38C needs so many more buses, I find that dublin bus have catered for plenty of young proffessionals working in the business parks around my area, yet there's one bus a day going into the college. The early 38c's often don't show. But like I said if our poxy government would spend a bit more of our money on us, rather than on their massive wages, I wouldn't mind paying for the services, it cost's me approx. €30 a week to get to work and college, I'm often left waiting an hour or more because there's not enough buses or there's not been enough running time left between buses.

On one occaision I have seen a bus driver drive past a woman signalling with a very young baby, I was on the bus and there were two women giving out to me and he told them "to **** off" I sincerely hope he got fired, I wish I had of complained about him.

SickCert

Im one of the decent drivers thats just out to earn a living and have a bit of craic with you. Now for starters i havent a clue why you were left at your stop, only one person does in reality.

From my days on the buses, back in the days when it was still bad ol' C.I.E. I can tell you that there were people who would go to extraordinary lengths to avoid carrying passengers. It was down to a combination of laziness, bad manners and lack of discipline. Write to the District Manager of the Depot concerned stating the bus number, location, time, date and the nature of the complaint. The guilty party will be interviewed, he will deny it of course and will not be disciplined, but it will go on his record and if the same complaint comes in against him again it will be harder to deny and a case will be built against him. This will make him think twice. It's the usual story, people don't complain and the likes of these guys just carry on giving the rest of their decent colleagues a bad name

If a driver is told off it will go on his record as advisory, verbal, written or suspension. This is the new procedure that came online a short while ago to get the few last bad apples and believe me it is few compared to 1999 when i started.
If there isnt a case against the driver OR denied to the extent where there is not enough proof then the mans record remains clean and nothing will be added.

SickCert

customer Information man gets on, has a chat with the driver, gets off. An English tourist asks the driver if he's giong to the city centre. Driver shuts door in his face and mutters under his breath. A middle-aged lady at the front of the queue asks Customer Information man if this is the next bus to town. He ignores her, turns his back, and walks off. Bus pulls off empty two minutes later.

Sounds like a nightmare.
Perhaps the Dublin Bus employees who frequent the board just explain it all to us.

Why should a driver who was probadly in Tallaght or Bray explain whats going on with an ex conductor (yellow coat) and a bus in the city?

SickCert

Can this topic be moved to commuting where the correct members will see it?

Blackjack

Wishbone Ash wrote:

When you were asking the foreign bus driver about Bus Aras, you should have referred to it as 'the central bus station'.

Really?. Why?. Is it not called BUSARAS in Multicultural Ireland anymore?

Wishbone Ash

SickCert wrote:

Why should a driver who was probadly in Tallaght or Bray explain whats going on with an ex conductor (yellow coat) and a bus in the city?

The poster was referring to the DB staff at bus stop No.1 in Dublin Airport, not in the city.

Chucky the tree

HelterSkelter wrote:

One day I was running to a bus stop one time while the bus was stopped letting passengers on and off. The driver clearly saw me running but didn't wait for me. He closed the doors and pulled away just as I got to the stop pretending not to see me. I got the next bus which managed to overtake the bus with the ignorant driver. So when I got into town I waited until the rude ignorant driver showed up, got on his bus and gave him a piece of my mind. I think he was in total shock and it made me feel much better!!

Wow. I have seen some pathetic things posted on this forum,but this one really takes the biscuit. You decided too purposely wait for a bus driver so you could give him abuse?

And then you turn around and call him rude and ignorant? Incredible.

HelterSkelter wrote:

I was on a bus in Liverpool before and the driver would stop for passengers who signalled for the bus to stop no matter where they were. Some people who were on the opposite side of the road and he even stopped for them and waited for them to cross the road! That's what competition does and they actually have to work for their money.

I am not a bus driver so might be wrong but i am fairly sure that they are only allowed stop at bus stops. If they pick someone up/let them off when they are not a bus stop and there is a crash they would be in serious trouble and probaly sacked.


I find most DB drivers grand, rarely a problem. Even once i turned the corner and was about 50 metres away from the bus, saw the last passenger just on so knew if i ran i wouldnt of made it. But i decided i would just stick my hand out as it came to pass me, thought there was no chance he would stop, but he did. Very nice of him.

Blackjack

spareman wrote:

Explain what exactly? what do you want to know?

I'd actually be interested in hearing why Dublin Bus customers are subjected to this kind of treatment, on a more than regular basis.
I've seen this kind of thing happen on a number of occasions, and often wondered it there is a rational, logical reason to allow employees of a semi-state company behave in this manner and keep their jobs.

Perhaps it's normal to pull a large Double decker up to a bus Terminus, direct all the customers to said Double Decker, only for it to drive off, leaving the perplexed punters waiting in wonder?.

Now, I have the height of respect for anyone who has to deal with the public at large on a daily basis. Having done so in the past, it's not something I'd wish on anyone, but the level of service (or rather the complete lack of it) from a number of Dublin bus drivers really pisses me off. Yes, they have to drive a bus, and yes they have to deal with Customers, some of whom will be akward, or may not know where they are going. This is however clearly stated in the job description, and appropriate training given, is it not?.

Blackjack

HelterSkelter wrote:

One day I was running to a bus stop one time while the bus was stopped letting passengers on and off. The driver clearly saw me running but didn't wait for me. He closed the doors and pulled away just as I got to the stop pretending not to see me. I got the next bus which managed to overtake the bus with the ignorant driver. So when I got into town I waited until the rude ignorant driver showed up, got on his bus and gave him a piece of my mind. I think he was in total shock and it made me feel much better!!

In all honesty, if a driver is pulling away from a stop, I'd expect him to be looking out his Right-hand mirror (for Traffic coming from behind), as opposed to his left hand mirror, for passengers running for the bus.

That said, I'd like to hear answers from any DB employees for the other questions as regards piss poor service from Dublin Airport in particular.

Chucky the tree

Blackjack wrote:

I'd actually be interested in hearing why Dublin Bus customers are subjected to this kind of treatment, on a more than regular basis.
I've seen this kind of thing happen on a number of occasions, and often wondered it there is a rational, logical reason to allow employees of a semi-state company behave in this manner and keep their jobs.

Its not the job of a Dublin bus driver to deal with complaints. Also, how is he supposed to know why one of his collegues didnt stop at a bus stop?

SickCert

That said, I'd like to hear answers from any DB employees for the other questions as regards piss poor service from Dublin Airport in particular.

Afraid im Bray services only but wouldnt the lack of buses be the main cause? After all Summerhill is one of our smallest depots, i dont think the 41's went over to Harristown.
No room at the inn and no buses to park anyway.

Blackjack

Chucky the tree wrote:

Its not the job of a Dublin bus driver to deal with complaints. Also, how is he supposed to know why one of his collegues didnt stop at a bus stop?

Any bus driver then, available to offer an explanation for this kind of behaviour?.
After all, the bus was at the stop, and pulled away empty. This is what I'm asking to be explained.

Blackjack

SickCert wrote:

Afraid im Bray services only but wouldnt the lack of buses be the main cause? After all Summerhill is one of our smallest depots, i dont think the 41's went over to Harristown.
No room at the inn and no buses to park anyway.

Would the management not be better moving the service to a larger Depot then?.

Wishbone Ash

Blackjack wrote:

Really?. Why?. Is it not called BUSARAS in Multicultural Ireland anymore?

It may have made things more understandable, that's all. No skin off my nose. If I was looking for information from non-nationals, I would be willing to make my query more understandable to them.

spareman

Blackjack wrote:

Any bus driver then, available to offer an explanation for this kind of behaviour?.
After all, the bus was at the stop, and pulled away empty. This is what I'm asking to be explained.

The bus wasnt at a stop it was at a terminus, which means its the end of the line, last stop, maybe the customer service guy thaught the bus was going soon when really the driver had been working for the past 10 hours and was returning to the garage, communication breakdown I think they call it, happens in every walk of life.

You say this happens on a regular basis? where? when?

That said, I'd like to hear answers from any DB employees for the other questions as regards piss poor service from Dublin Airport in particular.

piss poor service as in what exactly? not enough buses? or mix ups like above?

SickCert

Would the management not be better moving the service to a larger Depot then?.

No point as no buses even though we believe Volvo recieved the order!

killbillvol2

SickCert wrote:

If a driver is told off it will go on his record as advisory, verbal, written or suspension. This is the new procedure that came online a short while ago to get the few last bad apples and believe me it is few compared to 1999 when i started.
If there isnt a case against the driver OR denied to the extent where there is not enough proof then the mans record remains clean and nothing will be added.

I'm assuming that all the people who've posted complaints here have made a complaint to DB? SickCert has outlined clearly what happens next. Obviously if there were regular complaints against a driver his denials wouldn't wash. Complaints on Boards don't count.

From a personal point of view, I get between 4 and 6 buses a day, mainly the 121, 78A and any of the Lucan buses. The 121 is a bit erratic but that's fairly understandable given the length of the route. The 78A is pretty regular but I'd like to see some of you who've been whingeing here putting up with the sh1t the drivers have to take on that route. The Lucan routes are quick but I'm travelling off-peak.

The last time I saw a driver sailing past a stop in an empty bus was about 20 years and 10000 journeys ago. For someone to have seen it regularly I'd say they were spectacularly unlucky. Don't bother doing the lotto!

Dublin Bus provides a decent service considering the lack of resources and the traffic in this town.

SickCert

Wishbone Ash wrote:

It may have made things more understandable, that's all. No skin off my nose. If I was looking for information from non-nationals, I would be willing to make my query more understandable to them.

How exactly?

Blackjack

spareman wrote:

The bus wasnt at a stop it was at a terminus, which means its the end of the line, last stop, maybe the customer service guy thaught the bus was going soon when really the driver had been working for the past 10 hours and was returning to the garage, communication breakdown I think they call it, happens in every walk of life.

Customer Service guy (really, the title should help) then ignores Customer, asking a question?. He could quite easily have answered "The bus is returning to the Garage". Even better, when he gets off the bus, after his chat to the Driver, and perhaps announces to the expectant and waiting customers "the bus is returning to the Garage, there will be another along shortly".

Too much to ask, perhaps?.

spareman wrote:

You say this happens on a regular basis? where? when?

Dublin Airport, regularly this sort of crap happens.

spareman wrote:

piss poor service as in what exactly? not enough buses? or mix ups like above?

As in exactly the above, and exactly the same sort of complete disregard for the paying customer.

Wishbone Ash

SickCert wrote:

How exactly?

Customer: Do you stop at Busaras?
Driver: I don't understand. What is Busaras?
Customer: The central bus station in Dublin.
Driver: Ah yes, no this bus does not go there. Get the 747 etc.

What do you not understand?

Dublin Bus and Bus Eireann refer to it as the central bus station in Dublin airport.

Blackjack

Wishbone Ash wrote:

Customer: Do you stop at Busaras?
Driver: I don't understand. What is Busaras?
Customer: The central bus station in Dublin.
Driver: Ah yes, no this bus does not go there. Get the 747 etc.

What do you not understand?

Dublin Bus and Bus Eireann refer to it as the central bus station in Dublin airport.

Personally I'd have expected the Employee of the company which provides Bus services to and from the Busaras to know the name Busaras, but maybe that's just me.

Wishbone Ash

Blackjack wrote:

Personally I'd have expected the Employee of the company which provides Bus services to and from the Busaras to know the name Busaras, but maybe that's just me.

A driver on the 746 would be based in Donnybrook wheras Airport to Busaras is served by Summerhill AFAIK. A possibly new driver would not necessarily know a lot about routes provided by other garages.