DB Bus Numbers

markpb

This is just a small gripe but I've seen a few buses lately with different numbers on the front, side and back displays. I presume it's impossible with the new digital DMDs so it won't happen as much anymore. It's very irritating to see a 41 from behind, race to catch up with it before it pulls off, notice its actually 33 on the side, get puzzled and look at the front to see its a 41C.

aphex™

I really hate that too, another example of bus driver laziness.

parsi

Would that not be an example of systems design incompetence rather than bus driver laziness ?

Would it not seem stupid to put an electronic system on a bus but still make it necessary for the driver to change each display ?

aphex™

parsi wrote:

Would that not be an example of systems design incompetence rather than bus driver laziness ?

Would it not seem stupid to put an electronic system on a bus but still make it necessary for the driver to change each display ?

No, I'm pretty sure its in the job spec that they need to put the right number on the bus.

parsi

It probably is in the spec. And probably dates from when the destiantion blinds had to be manually scrolled. However it shouldn't be beyond the wit of the designers to ensure that all three screens change at once seeing as it is an electronic system. This would be similar to someone having the manually change the electronic destination board on the side of every carriage on the new Cork trains.

KC61

On the newer buses with full dot matrix destination displays (front, side and back), this has already been done. The display changes automatically when the bus driver enters the route details on the ticket machine at the start of each trip.

If there are differences between the displays on the side, rear or front it is a maintenance fault.

Where a bus has a manual front destination scroll, then it is up to the driver to manually scroll the front destination and to alter the dot matrix display for the side and rear panels. Again if side and rear differ from each other it is a maintenance fault, otherwise if the front differs from the other two it's more likely that it's down to human error, which, given that we live in an imperfect world, can occasionally happen!

And yes, a driver should change the destination at the start of each journey, but I suppose sometimes if he arrives late due to traffic or whatever it can escape the mind!

markpb

Cheers, that explains a lot. I had a feeling the new buses did it automatically which is cool. I'm not keen on blaming bus drivers for making mistakes, we all do it from time to time

What seems like such a small gripe can actually be the difference between making a bus or not. Or worse still, getting on the wrong bus because the front is different to the side/back.

MicraBoy

I had a classic experience a few weeks ago. I was at the stop on Parnell St/Fredicrick St. I spotted a number 11 in the distance and thought I was sorted. Next thing the bus disappears behind another bus, and when it emerged again it was no longer an 11 but "out of service". Said bus pulled up past the 11 stop and opened doors. I waited to see what the sign on the side would change to hoping it would go back to 11. Next thing the doors close and he pulls out. In doing so suddenly the sign changed back to 11. Argh!

spareman

aphex™ I really hate that too, another example of bus driver laziness.

How can it be laziness? All the driver has to do is lift his right arm and turn the dial? With all the pressure and stress of a busy job maybe we forget to set it sometimes. Some poster's here just love having a dig at bus driver's when ever they get a chance dont they? and the only way it can be different on the back and side is mecanical fault as they are both set using the same dial.

MicraBoy wrote:

I had a classic experience a few weeks ago. I was at the stop on Parnell St/Fredicrick St. I spotted a number 11 in the distance and thought I was sorted. Next thing the bus disappears behind another bus, and when it emerged again it was no longer an 11 but "out of service". Said bus pulled up past the 11 stop and opened doors. I waited to see what the sign on the side would change to hoping it would go back to 11. Next thing the doors close and he pulls out. In doing so suddenly the sign changed back to 11. Argh!

Im not making excuses for this, it shouldn't happen but I can explain what happened there, Basically the driver handed the bus over to another driver and when the first driver signs off the scroll goes out of service, when the second driver signs on it takes a few mins for the scroll to set back sometimes, The driver obviously thaught the scroll had set and nobody wanted the bus at the stop. From inside the cab the display reads as if it is set but outside it hasn't set, sometimes takes a few mins and sometimes it goes straight up.

markpb

spareman wrote:

Im not making excuses for this, it shouldn't happen but I can explain what happened there, Basically the driver handed the bus over to another driver and when the first driver signs off the scroll goes out of service, when the second driver signs on it takes a few mins for the scroll to set back sometimes, The driver obviously thaught the scroll had set and nobody wanted the bus at the stop. From inside the cab the display reads as if it is set but outside it hasn't set, sometimes takes a few mins and sometimes it goes straight up.

Could this be solved by having the first driver remain in service until all the passengers are loaded/unloaded and then going out of service? Would there be a problem with that?

spareman

markpb wrote:

Could this be solved by having the first driver remain in service until all the passengers are loaded/unloaded and then going out of service? Would there be a problem with that?

Simple answer Yes, but most of the spots where driver's hand over are 20/30 feet before the stop like in Donnybrook at eglinton road and the church, Its down to the driver to make sure the correct number is displayed but the only way to do that is to get out and check and if you get out of the cab you must switch off the engine, and if you do that some scrolls will go blank.
So it's a catch 22, If there are people at the first stop I usually just stop and if nobody approaches I shout out the bus number and if they still dont approach I know the scroll it working if they do then I know it's not set.

KC61

Spareman, you hit the nail on the head...again I suppose it's changing the way you do things! Previously with the manual scrolls this was not an issue as they always stayed the same, but now a driver needs to remind himself to pause for about 10 seconds once he's programmed the ticket machine for the destination display to update itself! And I think drivers often forget this (or maybe don't actually know it given they never see it being inside the bus!) which leads to the situation that micraboy experienced!

It boils down to driver education and reminding oneself to wait!!

shltter

KC61 wrote:

On the newer buses with full dot matrix destination displays (front, side and back), this has already been done. The display changes automatically when the bus driver enters the route details on the ticket machine at the start of each trip.

!

Almost right

The original dot matrix displays are not compatible with the ticket machines and have to be set manually at each termini. All the newer ones are as you say.


On the OP if it is different on the back than the side then it is a technical problem and one the driver was probably completely unaware of for the reasons spareman mentioned. No harm to mention it to the driver and make him/her aware of it. If it is a technical problem he can call it in and hopefully get the bus changed and if it is human error personally I would prefer someone to point it out to me than end up with people on the wrong bus.

shltter

aphex&#8482 wrote:

I really hate that too, another example of bus driver laziness.

Don't be dumb it is much easier to set it right than have people ask what the bus is or end up with people on the wrong bus. And has been already pointed on on the OP question that would be a technical fault as it is not possible for the driver to set the side different from the back.

Another example of certain people here being all to quick to presume the worst in relation to DB and its staff.

SickCert

aphex&#8482 wrote:

I really hate that too, another example of bus driver laziness.

Another example of a Pathetic driver hater.

Some of the pre- 98's have a tendency to display other than what you select, so if i select 1 on dial 1 a 9 may appear, others may show a letter when you select a number. All 00's upwards do it automatically and the lazy driver isnt involved.

Heart

Slightly, different angle but don't forget to look at the destination as well as the number on the front.

For example the 7; 7 Cherrywood & 7 Loughlinstown, so its important to read where the bus is going too... and those who don't read the destination can be seen in O'Connell St. putting there hand out for an 11C (just because it starts with 11 doesn't mean its going to Wadelai!).

H

spareman

Heart wrote:

Slightly, different angle but don't forget to look at the destination as well as the number on the front.

For example the 7; 7 Cherrywood & 7 Loughlinstown, so its important to read where the bus is going too... and those who don't read the destination can be seen in O'Connell St. putting there hand out for an 11C (just because it starts with 11 doesn't mean its going to Wadelai!).

H

You wouldn't believe the amount of people who get on the 46B thinking it's a 46A, Funny when you turn off the stillorgan road and the panic sets in, Some convinced I changed the scroll on the way out of town, someone was telling me, in paris I think it is they have a red line going through the shortened routes to make it easier for people. So it would have 46B with a

/

through it if you know what I mean.

shltter

spareman wrote:

You wouldn't believe the amount of people who get on the 46B thinking it's a 46A, Funny when you turn off the stillorgan road and the panic sets in, Some convinced I changed the scroll on the way out of town, someone was telling me, in paris I think it is they have a red line going through the shortened routes to make it easier for people. So it would have 46B with a

/

through it if you know what I mean.

I have had that myself I remember one particular gentleman shouting dogs abuse claiming that I had changed the scroll after he boarded the bus. Despite the fact that everyone else on the bus knew what it was even those who had got on at the same stop as him. But rather than listen to his fellow passengers he started accusing them of being in on it with me.

Flukey

Often people don't look at the numbers properly. I've often seen people on a 46B becoming very puzzled when it turns up onto Foster's Avenue. I asked the driver about why it was numbered that way, and he said there was something about it that it had to be. Going way back, it was either the 64 or 64A that used to go a similar route before it was removed from service. There was a long gap before the 46B came into operation.

That's another thing that happens when a service is discontinued and a new service takes over. They often change the stops. The 11 was mentioned above. It was extended out to Kilmacud a few years ago and the 62 was discontinued. The 62 terminus was on Hawkins Street. They should have at that time put a stop for the 11 on D'Olier Street to facilitate people looking for the 62. OK, I know D'Olier Street has a lot of buses stopping on it, but I still think it should have been done. The redevelopment of O'Connell Street really shook up the bus stops there. An 11 or 46A/B does me for getting home. They used to all stop outside the Savoy, so you could easily wait for the first of them to come. Now their stops are have been separated.

spareman

shltter wrote:

I have had that myself I remember one particular gentleman shouting dogs abuse claiming that I had changed the scroll after he boarded the bus. Despite the fact that everyone else on the bus knew what it was even those who had got on at the same stop as him. But rather than listen to his fellow passengers he started accusing them of being in on it with me.

Remind you of this place wouldn't it, no matter what, they are right and you are wrong, He probably went round telling everyone for a week how he was kidnapped by a bus driver who tried to take him off route.

spareman

Flukey wrote:

Often people don't look at the numbers properly. I've often seen people on a 46B becoming very puzzled when it turns up onto Foster's Avenue. I asked the driver about why it was numbered that way, and he said there was something about it that it had to be. Going way back, it was either the 64 or 64A that used to go a similar route before it was removed from service. There was a long gap before the 46B came into operation.

That's another thing that happens when a service is discontinued and a new service takes over. They often change the stops. The 11 was mentioned above. It was extended out to Kilmacud a few years ago and the 62 was discontinued. The 62 terminus was on Hawkins Street. They should have at that time put a stop for the 11 on D'Olier Street to facilitate people looking for the 62. OK, I know D'Olier Street has a lot of buses stopping on it, but I still think it should have been done. The redevelopment of O'Connell Street really shook up the bus stops there. An 11 or 46A/B does me for getting home. They used to all stop outside the Savoy, so you could easily wait for the first of them to come. Now their stops are have been separated.

Not 100% on this but I think the stops in nassau street and parnell square are beside each other so you could wait in between the stops to see what come's first.
62? never heard of it, Im only a runner in, when was it stopped?

Flukey

Another problematical stop on the Stillorgan Road routes is the one near the Stillorgan Park Hotel. It is just positioned so you can't see the hotel. Panic sets in when the tourists see the hotel as the bus pulls off, and it increases when the bus turns up into Stillorgan village. I asked the driver about it once and I think he said they were not allowed to put the stop right in front of the hotel. There is a small gap in the wall in front of it for pedestrians to enter. It could possibly go there. Maybe it is something to do with the traffic entrances nearby, or there being less distance for the buses to go across the lanes of the Stillorgan Road to be in lane for the turn up to Stillorgan village.

Flukey

spareman wrote:

Not 100% on this but I think the stops in nassau street and parnell square are beside each other so you could wait in between the stops to see what come's first.
62? never heard of it, Im only a runner in, when was it stopped?

The Parnell Square ones are a bit of a distance apart too, though not as much as the O'Connell Street ones now are. You'd have to position yourself right between them to have a chance to get to the one that the first bus arrived at. The stops are closer on Nassau Street alright, but that is not much use to people getting on in the Parnell Square or O'Connell Street area, particularly if they are bringing shopping or something like that. The bus would have less space by then too, and the Nassau Street stops are always ones that have a lot of people getting on.

I can't tell you the exact year, but the 62 stopped in the 90s. The 11 was extended from the stop near Bird Avenue, out to Kilmacud. It goes more frequently than the 62 did, so that is at least one benefit. The 52 is gone now too, which was handy for people going to St. Vincent's Hospital or its environs, or to the DART. The 5 is far too infrequent to facilitate them, although it does pass that way. So the only option is to go down Nutley lane having got off one of the Stillorgan Road buses. It is great that they put on the 145. It was madness that for years that they only had the infrequent 84 going right out the full length of the Stillorgan Road, a very busy route. You'd wonder about the people running Dublin Bus at times.

The other thing that the 11 is responsible for, going many years back, is the incorrect reference to Clonskeagh's location. Many consider Clonskeagh to be where the Bird Avenue stop is. In fact, that area is Roebuck. Roebuck Road is the main road passing along there. It continues to the bottom of Goatstown Road and swings left then, heading towards Fosters Avenue, the way the 11A goes. Clonskeagh is in reality down closer to the Dodder, where McGrath's and Ashton's are. You have Terminus Mills there too. The 11 used to have its terminus around there somewhere. When it was extended up to the Bird Avenue terminus, they never changed the name on the front of the bus. So a local historian told me once anyway.

It is a bit strange that coming off of the Bird Avenue section, back onto Roebuck Road, that they closed off the section of the road infront of the investment business there, formerly a bank. It would make it easier for the bus to rejoin Roebuck Road. It was open for a while, but it has been closed off again now. I presume it is something to do with that business and the exit on the other side of it.

ardmacha

You have Terminus Mills there too.

I think Terminus mills was the no 11 tram terminal, the 11 bus like other buses 1-16 was simply replacing the tram, whereas I suppose the 62 was originally a bus than ran beyond the tram line.

AlekSmart

The entire Bus Stop arrangement in An Lar is a twisted wreck of a setup.
Calina has ventured to suggest on another thread that Dublin City Centre requires a Cull of stops.
I venture to agree with her,but only if that cull is accompanied by a Totally new Fare regieme which centres on Abolishing On Bus Cash Transactions or making those who DO want to do a Jimmy O Dea on it Pay through the nose........

Remember the Standard Fare on Dublin Bus services is €30.......U get a discount for agreeing to buy a ticket !! :eek:

John R

AlekSmart wrote:

The entire Bus Stop arrangement in An Lar is a twisted wreck of a setup.
Calina has ventured to suggest on another thread that Dublin City Centre requires a Cull of stops.
I venture to agree with her,but only if that cull is accompanied by a Totally new Fare regieme which centres on Abolishing On Bus Cash Transactions or making those who DO want to do a Jimmy O Dea on it Pay through the nose........

Remember the Standard Fare on Dublin Bus services is €30.......U get a discount for agreeing to buy a ticket !! :eek:

The biggest joke regarding bus stop arrangements is O'Connell St. DCC have constantly refused any idea of providing bus shelters or any passenger facilities on the street citing aesthetics and space yet just this week planning notices have gone up along the street for large advertising panels.

spareman

John R wrote:

The biggest joke regarding bus stop arrangements is O'Connell St. DCC have constantly refused any idea of providing bus shelters or any passenger facilities on the street citing aesthetics and space yet just this week planning notices have gone up along the street for large advertising panels.

Aparently the advertising deal is worth €50m to the city council, thats the difference, They dont really care too much about what the city actually needs, just weather it cost's them money or not. In this case some rich business man get's richer on our backs while the council cream it off and we get pissed on while waiting for buses.

_Kaiser_

SickCert wrote:

Another example of a Pathetic driver hater.

Shltter wrote:

Don't be dumb

spareman wrote:

Remind you of this place wouldn't it, no matter what, they are right and you are wrong, He probably went round telling everyone for a week how he was kidnapped by a bus driver who tried to take him off route.

And then you lot wonder why passengers/the public in general have a bad impression of Bus drivers? Legitimate question decends into more off-topic ranting by the DB crowd.

This isn't the depot canteen. If you're going to complain about people's attitudes towards bus drivers, maybe you should take a look at your own attitudes as well.

EDIT: Yes I know (as I'm sure you'll point out) that Aphex "started it" , but two wrongs don't make a right either!

AlekSmart

Tis true indeed.
Just have regard for the mess that O Connell St has become.
Yet another monument to our national speciality of half doing things before moving off to graze elsewhere on the veldt.

Crappy cheap tack abounds everywhere...Payphone Pillars,Bollards,Aluminium Poles,Stainless Steel Poles,Plain ol Metal poles,in fact a Pole for every sign,no matter how small.
Aircoach Stop outside The Gresham demolished for three days,lying at a dangerously drunken angle...mute declaration to our National Position it could be said.
Half arsed cheap plastic Convenience Store fronts and a Council which only starts to consider these items AFTER spending €55 Million on its Street Improvement Work.

Dublin Bus,for it`s part had a sweet sounding lady on the wireless before Christmas offering all sorts of opinions on a "Bus Stop Action-Plan" for the street.
I`m uncertain whether or not this BSAP has in fact come and gone or whether its still in the planning stage but I do find it laughable for The City Council to deny Public Transport using citizens shelter from the elements whilst ensuring that the Gardai are on hand at peak times to get Private Cars in and out of Arnotts Car park.

Ignorance..? Stupidity..?Negligence..?Corruption..?...I dunno but I suppose its all part of "The Process"...... :eek:

shltter

Kaiser2000 wrote:

EDIT: Yes I know (as I'm sure you'll point out) that Aphex "started it" , but two wrongs don't make a right either!

LOL
He is back with the lectures more advice he can't follow himself.

You have lost any moral high ground to preach about how others should behave given your recent performance

SickCert

This isn't the depot canteen. If you're going to complain about people's attitudes towards bus drivers, maybe you should take a look at your own attitudes as well.

Jeez Spareman was right about you guys.
Can you not see you have 4 semi decent drivers here giving little hints, tips and answering questions about the trade, while yes slamming the lazy insults.