Defective Bus?

thorbarry

Hi

I get this bus "116" every morning from whitechurch estate at 7:40am. The bus goes into town, but i get off at Donnybrook. It was the same driver until recently a new driver came along. Recently the bus driver has been stopping the bus early, but only when there are about 3/4 people on it. He asks us to get off, and show our ticket to the next bus that comes along. I think he is only doing this so he can get back to the Donnybrook garage, thus ending his shift on the bus early. It can be annoying, considering it is the only bus i can get. Last week i transfered to another bus, which the driver told me to get on, but that bus stopped 3 stopps early, which meant i had to walk about 15min up to where i usually get the bus.

When i asked the driver today why are we changing busses? he told me that the bus was defective and had to go back to the garage. He said it shouldn't have come this far, and he shouldn't even be coming into whitechurch estate. I was not sure what he ment, he asked me if i under stood. i said "no" and he replied "well you will someday". To me it seems like he is only doing this because he wants to get back to the garage early. Surely he should be driving the bus from the first stop to the last. He does this usually about 1/2 times a week. Anybody have any thoughts?

mickoneill30

Give them a shout. Tell them they've got a "defective" bus on the route (give times and dates and bus number) and ask them about the possiblility of putting one on that's not defective.

http://www.dublinbus.ie/en/Contact-Us1/

thorbarry

im not even sure what he means by "defective". Is it broke? Great service, having a defective bus run every day

Cookie_Monster

Tis like the numerous times I've been on a 7 and another catches up with it. Then anywhere after Dun Laoghaire one of them develops a fault or has to be at the terminal for next run quickly or some other BS. So it's off you get and onto the other bus so one of the drivers can bunk off somewhere.

Also happened frequently with the old 46 in the morning. Reached the N11 and then had to swop to a 46a.

KC61

There can be operational reasons for a bus to be taken out of service, but this should always be at the instruction of the route controller to the driver.

For example if a bus is running substantially late the controller might either:
1) Instruct the driver to transfer passengers to another bus and then operate out of service to the terminus to try and make up time
or
2) Instruct the driver to operate as a set-down service only in an effort to make up time

Or there could actually be a mechanical defect with the bus.

The bus that operates the 116 in the morning is rostered to operate other services afterwards (it's a EURO duty in other words a split duty 3.5 hours in the morning and 3.5 in the afternoon) so the break is not until about 1030 or so.

Either way, take a note of the date and times if it is a regular occurrence and get in touch with the District Manager, Donnybrook Garage, Dublin 4 who is Martin Kenny. The garage number is 01-7034420.

thorbarry

KC61 wrote: »

Either way, take a note of the date and times if it is a regular occurrence and get in touch with the District Manager, Donnybrook Garage, Dublin 4 who is Martin Kenny. The garage number is 01-7034420.

Cool, good advice. As i cant remember the dates of the other ones because i have been out of work for the past 2 weeks, i will keep a record from today. I will get in touch if it happens another 2/3 times

RayM

It's pretty bad form for the driver to just throw everyone off the bus and tell them to wait for the next one. What happens if the next driver doesn't accept your ticket as a form of payment (it's non-transferable, so he'd be well within his rights to make you pay your fare again)? Surely the standard practice is for the driver to wait with his passengers until another bus comes along.

dereko1969

Seems very odd to me, the route passes by Donnybrook garage anyway so why doesn't he wait to terminate his route there? Rather than kicking you off at UCD (presumably) or thereabouts why not leave you all on until Donnybrook then kick you off there?
There are a gazillion* 46a's going past so you shouldn't be left in the lurch too long in any event, not that i'm condoning his actions but there are worse places to have to change buses.





*may in fact be a total exaggeration!

dfx-

dereko1969 wrote: »

*may in fact be a total exaggeration!

but only just

Worse places like Dolphin's Barn...

meanmachine3

defective could be anything. alarms going off, over heating, due for a service.
some drivers are told to clear /work certain areas which would only have one bus service then when they get to a main road which links up with other routes they're told to transfer passengers then bring the bus back to the garage. he wouldn't have been finishing his shift that early. most of the early shifts finish from about 09.30ish onwards and thats after (A) starting around 04.30-5am(B) without getting a break.
most likely thing is problem with the bus as outlined above, shortage of buses in the garage.
T.B.H. it's better to be transferred to another bus than to be on it when it breaks down.
unfortunately as i have said hundreds of times in my posts, drivers are not given adequate running time and are playing catch up in most cases. so what happens here is they work out, somewhere up the road there'll be an empty bus waiting for the bus that worked out , your put on empty bus and be on your merry way.
cookie this happens very regularly. i'd love to agree with you about the B.S. but we're under severe pressure and with the buses they took off it's got a hell of alot worse.

thorbarry

dereko1969 wrote: »

There are a gazillion* 46a's going past so you shouldn't be left in the lurch too long in any event, not that i'm condoning his actions but there are worse places to have to change buses.

That is true. Usually i am only waiting 3/4 minutes for another bus, so its not too bad, just some times a bit frustrating.

Thanks for the comment meanmachine3, it must be something to do with what you were saying, the driver could be under pressure to get to his next shift. Im pretty sure the bus isnt defective. it couldnt be defective 1/2 times a week could it?

KC61

I'd very much doubt that the 116 is under time pressure!!!

He's 0740 ex-Whitechurch and then in Parnell Square for 0910!

thorbarry

I get off at Donnybrook Fair, and usually I get off around 8:15 or 8:20 at the latest. So he would have 50min at least to get to Parnell Square. I know traffic can be bad, but not that bad, should only take 10/15 min approx

angel01

dereko1969 wrote: »

Seems very odd to me, the route passes by Donnybrook garage anyway so why doesn't he wait to terminate his route there? Rather than kicking you off at UCD (presumably) or thereabouts why not leave you all on until Donnybrook then kick you off there?
There are a gazillion* 46a's going past so you shouldn't be left in the lurch too long in any event, not that i'm condoning his actions but there are worse places to have to change buses.





*may in fact be a total exaggeration![/quote]

though at times it feels like it