Great Bus driver on the 39!

GM071class

Last night while plodding my way home, I was on the 2nd to last bus home.

The bus Itself was reasonably quiet, however there was a few 'lads' down the back, and one was smoking.

I must remark to say fair play to the Driver of the 39.
He stopped the bus, went upstairs an threatened to drag them off.

Now in light or recent happenings, attacks on DB staff and so on, If the little bo!!ox's out there are up to all sorts on Dublin Bus, isn't it time Passengers and Drivers started standing up to anti-social behavior?

Or is the 'have a go hero' mentality a dangerous one?

Anyway that's a little off my own topic, I Just wanted to commend the Driver on 'stepping in' on the behavior on his bus.

Regards,
GM071class,

Run_to_da_hills

All Dublin Busses have 3 cameras upstairs, 4 downstairs, so their antisocial actions would be recorded. If they assaulted a driver it wouldn't be long before they would be caught.

I.S.T.

Run_to_da_hills wrote: »

All Dublin Busses have 3 cameras upstairs, 4 downstairs, so their antisocial actions would be recorded. If they assaulted a driver it wouldn't be long before they would be caught.

Not much use to the driver if he's lying in a coma.

People need to back up the driver in an instance like this. The problem is too many people are afraid to get involved but if they did this country would be a much safer place for all of us.

Cookie_Monster

I'm in two minds over this, one one hand its not the drivers problem and he shouldn't have to do anything about it, but there is never going to be security/gardai or conductors to hand to deal with these issues.

On the other hand it is potentially very dangerous for him or other passengers to stand up to these scum and I commend people for doing it.

I have an experience from both sides of the fence, good and bad.

1) last 45a from DL. I'd walked my GF to the bus stop and once she got it I went home, got a call a few minutes later to say bus hand stopped due to scumbag causing hassle and smashing one of the windows by throwing seats out of it. Driver ****ed them off the bus, checked on of the other passengers who they'd hit with a bottle, avoided another beer bottle thrown at him by said scumbags, picked seat off the road, blocked off the upstairs and kept going. As way last bus he made sure no-one was stranded. Fair play to him.

2) on a 111 late one night and a load of kids get on at the old Deerhunter, one didn't pay and driver refused to move until she paid or they all got off. Sat there for 15 mins cos neither would budge :mad:
eventually she paid up and off we went

SeanW

was on the Luas the other day, and I think it was Black Horse or one of the stops beside the canal, a team of inspectors got on. 30 seconds later there was an announcement that the tram was being held "while we wait for the services of the Gardai, as some people with no tickets refuse to leave the tram. 30 seconds later they must have scampered because the doors closed and we were off.

foggy_lad

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

I have an experience from both sides of the fence, good and bad.

1) last 45a from DL. I'd walked my GF to the bus stop and once she got it I went home, got a call a few minutes later to say bus hand stopped due to scumbag causing hassle and smashing one of the windows by throwing seats out of it. Driver ****ed them off the bus, checked on of the other passengers who they'd hit with a bottle, avoided another beer bottle thrown at him by said scumbags, picked seat off the road, blocked off the upstairs and kept going. As way last bus he made sure no-one was stranded. Fair play to him.

2) on a 111 late one night and a load of kids get on at the old Deerhunter, one didn't pay and driver refused to move until she paid or they all got off. Sat there for 15 mins cos neither would budge :mad:
eventually she paid up and off we went

what is bad about either of those situations apart from scumbags wrecking the bus and injuring people and a scumbag fare evader?? as far as i see the driver did his job on both occasions

Cookie_Monster

foggy_lad wrote: »

what is bad about either of those situations apart from scumbags wrecking the bus and injuring people and a scumbag fare evader?? as far as i see the driver did his job on both occasions

first was swiftly dealt with and driver put himself at risk to deal with the scumbags

second was badly dealt with, wasted everyones time. driver would not get out of his cab, just sat there and refused to move until money was paid. There is no excuse for delaying everybody for 15 mins for the sake of 60c or whatever it was.

paulm17781

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

second was badly dealt with, wasted everyones time. driver would not get out of his cab, just sat there and refused to move until money was paid. There is no excuse for delaying everybody for 15 mins for the sake of 60c or whatever it was.

Perhaps he hoped some of the cowards on the bus would do something rather than him having to?

Cookie_Monster

paulm17781 wrote: »

Perhaps he hoped some of the cowards on the bus would do something rather than him having to?

maybe so but its his job not theirs

GM071class

paulm17781 wrote: »

Perhaps he hoped some of the cowards on the bus would do something rather than him having to?

I had this on a train from Manchester to Chester wit Northern Rail.

It was a mid-morning train, and 4 young 'chavs' (to coin the english term) got on and refused to pay the ticket.
The Inspector decided that he wasn't moving the train until they'd paid up, or gotten off.

We were sitting in the station for about 10 minutes before I began to worry of missing my connection, and ending up spending the day in Holyhead waiting on Ferries if I missed my one.

So I got up and had a chat to the lads, Told them I was calling the Police, and then I was backed by the Inspector.

They got off, and we were on our way again!

It does work sometimes.....

paulm17781

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

maybe so but its his job not theirs

No, his job is to drive the bus. He's not a bouncer.

Cookie_Monster

paulm17781 wrote: »

No, his job is to drive the bus. He's not a bouncer.

so its not part of their job to take fares and print tickets when people get on, or check cards in machine doesn't validate them, funny cos they all seem to do it. What a considerate work force, doing all that extra work

:rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:

Hagar

Bring back the conductors. Many's the gurrier got his his head busted by a well swung ticket machine.

KC61

foggy_lad wrote: »

what is bad about either of those situations apart from scumbags wrecking the bus and injuring people and a scumbag fare evader?? as far as i see the driver did his job on both occasions

Dublin Bus drivers are under strict instruction not to leave the cab in instances like this and will not be covered by company insurance.

The instruction is to call control and then wait for the Gardai.

While I would say fair dues to the driver, what would have been the outcome if these guys had a knife and attacked him?

KC61

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

so its not part of their job to take fares and print tickets when people get on, or check cards in machine doesn't validate them, funny cos they all seem to do it. What a considerate work force, doing all that extra work

:rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:

Look at the notice as you board any bus. It says that it is your (i.e. the passenger's) responsibility to have the correct ticket.

The goalposts moved a few years back, and while most drivers do continue to ensure passengers do pay the correct fare, it is no longer their responsibility if the passenger pays the wrong fare.

Cookie_Monster

KC61 wrote: »

The goalposts moved a few years back, and while most drivers do continue to ensure passengers do pay the correct fare, it is no longer their responsibility if the passenger pays the wrong fare.

so if I throw in 10c and refuse to get off there's nothing they can do about it short of calling the gardai and waiting the 45mins it will take for them to turn up or just print a ticket regardless?

KC61

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

so if I throw in 10c and refuse to get off there's nothing they can do about it short of calling the gardai and waiting the 45mins it will take for them to turn up or just print a ticket regardless?

As I said the responsibility is on us, the passenger, to have the correct ticket for the journey that we make.

The driver will issue the ticket that he is asked for, provided it is a correct fare, but it is the job of the Revenue Protection Unit to monitor compliance with the fare regulations.

If you throw in 10c do you honestly think that the driver is going to drive off regardless? That's an entirely different set of circumstances. They can ask you to pay the correct fare, leave, or otherwise they must contact control and request assistance. It is certainly not their job to leave the cab and tackle passengers.

pokerface_me

Guys its a sackable offence to leave the cab, you are told to radio in for Garda assistance and wait or drive towards the Garda and they will meet you on route.

My father works for Dublin bus and works the Tallaght 77 route and one of his pals from work was let go for leaving his cab and having a go at a few youngfellas pushing a woman around, while everyone sat in their seat afraid to do anything.

Cookie_Monster

pokerface_me wrote: »

Guys its a sackable offence to leave the cab, you are told to radio in for Garda assistance and wait or drive towards the Garda and they will meet you on route.

My father works for Dublin bus and works the Tallaght 77 route and one of his pals from work was let go for leaving his cab and having a go at a few youngfellas pushing a woman around, while everyone sat in their seat afraid to do anything.

presumably you can leaave in case of emergency, which you could stretch to include the above example.

can you not leave you cab to adjust mirrors or anything anymore?

pokerface_me

Yeah i suppose if your life is in danger i.e crash or fire.....but to get involved is a sackable offence. You are told the radio is there so use it and the Garda are usually on scene in minutes.

Run_to_da_hills

IrishSpeedTraps wrote: »

Not much use to the driver if he's lying in a coma.

People need to back up the driver in an instance like this. The problem is too many people are afraid to get involved but if they did this country would be a much safer place for all of us.

TFL have already tested live CCTV on several routes. When someone acts the maggot the driver presses a panic button which notifies a control room which the authorities can then examine the matter live while sending out a patrol at the same time.

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/corporate/media/newscentre/10118.aspx

Cookie_Monster

Run_to_da_hills wrote: »

TFL have already tested live CCTV on several routes. When someone acts the maggot the driver presses a panic button which notifies a control room which the authorities can then examine the matter live while sending out a patrol at the same time.

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/corporate/media/newscentre/10118.aspx

thats a good idea

paulm17781

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

so if I throw in 10c and refuse to get off there's nothing they can do about it short of calling the gardai and waiting the 45mins it will take for them to turn up or just print a ticket regardless?

No, he'll probably refuse to drive until you get off the bus. Does this situation sound familiar?

etchyed

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

maybe so but its his job not theirs

What a ridiculous thing to say! In your first example, the driver went above and beyond what he was required to do. Obviously he's to be commended for this, but that doesn't mean you can expect every driver to do this. "His job" indeed! Why should someone put himself at risk just so you're not held up for 15 minutes?

KC61

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

can you not leave you cab to adjust mirrors or anything anymore?

Of course the driver can - that is totally different. They must switch off the engine first though and take it out of gear. He means that drivers cannot get involved in any disturbances involving passengers, or confrontations. They must call control and request assistance from inspectors or the Gardai.

Victor

Recently, I was on a late evening bus with three young guys (14-16) down the back upstairs and one had a crisp bag full of liquid* he was about to drop out the window on pedestrians / people at the bus stop. I told them to cop on and then told the driver. The driver shut down the bus and the two of us went back upstairs and the driver told them to get off. In fairness they were more mummies boys on the loose than gougers, but they could still have seriously injured someone. Now, potentially they just had to pay another fair and get the next bus, but getting some reprimand is important.

Another night, a bunch of people ran past the driver on a Nitelink and it was ambiguous as to whether they all had tickets or not. The bus was due to leave, so the driver let them away with it. Or so he thought. A drunk went up to the driver and started hassling him that if the others didn't have to pay, he wanted a refund. :rolleyes: His constant moaning over the next 5-10 minutes so guilted one of the group that she made them all pay. So, if you annoy the nuisance makers enough or make them realise its not worth their while, it does pay off.


* I'm not sure I want to know what liquid.

AlekSmart

The MOST important aspect of GM071`s original post is that he,a customer,felt sufficiently impressed or reassured by the Busdrivers proactive EARLY response to this situation.

One of the most important elements of BusDriving or indeed any customer facing role is that the operative feels sufficiently confident and empowered to carry out their normal duties.

In my own case I regard the provision of a safe,rapid,comfortable journey to be one of those duties,in fact the prime one.

However,in the current climate in the UK and Ireland,Busdrivers and other Public Facing employees are filled to the gills with all manner of Politically Correct "Customer Focus" mumbo jumbo,most of which has come from the Laptop of a PR outfit whose principals rarely,if ever,actually utilize Public Transport.

An experienced Busdriver can generally spot individuals and developing situations even before the perpretrators board the vehicle.
In many cases those Drivers can,with a word or affirmative gesture,make a definite impression on these anti-social types BEFORE they feel emboldened to kick-off their muppetry from the relative safety of the upper-saloon.

However,as already pointed out,the Busdriver is,especially on Night time services totally alone with no form of structured response or support other than the Radio Controller.

In time,in the absence of Civic or Garda interest,Bus Atha Cliath will eventually HAVE to provide such Operations Support itself,but as it involves a cost element this will be fought tooth and nail by senior management who are fearful of being seen as anything other than "correct" and "all inclusive" in their approach.

In the meantime,Busdrivers can only hope that their late journeys have at least a couple of GM071 type passengers on board too.

dfx-

pokerface_me wrote: »

You are told the radio is there so use it and the Garda are usually on scene in minutes.

Again the thread reminds me of the call on the radio of a 122 I was on about a 37 at 8pm "Will the xth extra 37 come in...there's two lads trying to kill each other on your bus, look upstairs. Stay in your cabin..do not move"

Obviously other buses had spotted as they went by

Quentinkrisp

DB should follow the luas example and start employing security guards on certain routes after 7pm, should cut down on the scumbaggery somewhat. Also, as has been pointed out on the thread before, there's lots of passengers who'd want to take action if something kicked off on a bus, but it's the fear of being left on their own without backup facing down some violent scumbag, plus the fear of being stabbed puts a lot of people off. won't put me off though.

markpb

Quentinkrisp wrote: »

DB should follow the luas example and start employing security guards on certain routes after 7pm

Preferably the government would set up a transport police who would have actual authority as opposed to a guy in a high vis vest who has (almost) none.