Driver not stopping due to bus full.

Losty Dublin

devnull wrote: »

To be fair from a few friends who use the bus reguarly, I've heard that the middle doors are being used a bit more now than they were a few weeks back, but the fact this was on the 7 does not surprise me, when I was commuting to Ballsbridge for 18 months I often had run ins with drivers on there about their lack of customer care and customer service, although never experienced any problems getting the 4!

If it's safe to do so, the doors should be opened, and it's no wonder people will instinctively go to the front door when they see things like that. DB saying that they are not opening the middle doors because passengers are not going to them, is a poor excuse, ang neglects to mention the fact that actions by their drivers is encouraging that practice.

Most runs of the 7 that I've been on have seen the middle doors being used. Mind you, many of the the stops on the 7 around the D 4 and Merrion Road area are such that a driver knows his passengers can alight safely; not every route has this luxury.

devnull

I don't use the bus reguarly anymore, so I can't comment on a lot of experiences, I just comment when I traveled to Ballsbridge every day for around 18 months a year or two back, and I found the drivers on the 7 far less polite than their counterparts on the 4.

I've never disagreed that the doors shouldn't be opened when it is unsafe, but some drivers will refuse to open them at any stops, I walked down O'Connell Street only a few nights ago and saw two buses packed to the rafters during evening peak, one pulled up, people exited both doors, the second one, stopped in exactly the same place, didn't open them. That isn/t down to safety, that is down to drivers who simply won't use them.

lil5

Losty Dublin wrote: »

Most runs of the 7 that I've been on have seen the middle doors being used. ...

I'd see the opposite on the 4/7 corridor ...

Early morning inbound to CC - around 7:00 - the centre door isn't used at all.

In the afternoon outbound - around 16:15 - the centre door is used by a few drivers or not at all. Seems to be purely depending on the driver as there is also no notable difference between the 4 or the 7.

Eponymous

AlekSmart wrote:

My suggestion to peak-time passengers is to always glance at the upper saloon and try to assess it's loading as the Bus approaches and DON'T be afraid to inform the Driver AND those passengers loitering about the stairs of this !!.

I tried this last weekend, and got abuse from the driver for my troubles. Not to worry though, a complaint has gone in, complete with a photo of the driver.

What annoyed me most was that if the downstairs of the bus was full, where on earth did he think the half dozen passengers who got off the bus came from?

Tickityboo

Eponymous wrote: »

I tried this last weekend, and got abuse from the driver for my troubles. Not to worry though, a complaint has gone in, complete with a photo of the driver.

What annoyed me most was that if the downstairs of the bus was full, where on earth did he think the half dozen passengers who got off the bus came from?

Bit over the top to take a photograph of the driver!!
Complain by all means but a photograph ffs.

hmmm

There's one excellent bus driver on my route driving a big tri axle who is always telling people as they get on (very politely) that there is seats upstairs. The extra 20 or so people he can get on his bus makes a massive difference at that time of hour. We need more drivers doing this and encouraging the gobdaws to stop hanging around downstairs.

PucaMama

hmmm wrote: »

There's one excellent bus driver on my route driving a big tri axle who is always telling people as they get on (very politely) that there is seats upstairs. The extra 20 or so people he can get on his bus makes a massive difference at that time of hour. We need more drivers doing this and encouraging the gobdaws to stop hanging around downstairs.

not everyone can make it upstairs.

Tickityboo

PucaMama wrote: »

not everyone can make it upstairs.

Nothing to stop them moving to the back of the bus!!

Gatling

PucaMama wrote: »

not everyone can make it upstairs.

Wheelchair users excused can't see why perfect able people can't walk a few steps ,

Its even worse trying to get off a bus with a buggy when lazy ignorant's refuses to move a few inches and force you to push through them ,

** full bus rant* while waiting on a bus in tallaght to day in the pissing rain with a child in a buggy bus pulls up too my stop had my hand out ,bus slows and pulls into the stop but doesn't actually stop instead driver holds 2 fingers up to say 2 buggys on board ,now I could clearly see the 2 buggy's in the bay both of which were empty driver then proceeds down the road next bus didn't arrive for 27 mins later ,
Would have been nice to actually get the choice to fold down my buggy ,

instead all I got was wet very wet

PucaMama

Gatling wrote: »

Wheelchair users excused can't see why perfect able people can't walk a few steps ,

Its even worse trying to get off a bus with a buggy when lazy ignorant's refuses to move a few inches and force you to push through them ,

** full bus rant* while waiting on a bus in tallaght to day in the pissing rain with a child in a buggy bus pulls up too my stop had my hand out ,bus slows and pulls into the stop but doesn't actually stop instead driver holds 2 fingers up to say 2 buggys on board ,now I could clearly see the 2 buggy's in the bay both of which were empty driver then proceeds down the road next bus didn't arrive for 27 mins later ,
Would have been nice to actually get the choice to fold down my buggy ,

instead all I got was wet very wet

not everyone thats not in a wheelchair is able for the stairs. i wouldnt go upstairs with my unstable knee.

hmmm

PucaMama wrote: »

not everyone thats not in a wheelchair is able for the stairs. i wouldnt go upstairs with my unstable knee.

No-one expects everyone to go upstairs. But there is no good reason for able bodied people to be blocking up the standing room downstairs and preventing others getting on the bus if there are seats upstairs.

LXFlyer

PucaMama wrote: »

not everyone thats not in a wheelchair is able for the stairs. i wouldnt go upstairs with my unstable knee.

No one would expect you to either.

However, there are a large number of people who simply don't bother to look upstairs out of sheer laziness and selfishness, and as a result people get left behind unnecessarily.

Joshycat

PucaMama wrote: »

not everyone thats not in a wheelchair is able for the stairs. i wouldnt go upstairs with my unstable knee.

Yes but the vast majority of people who aren't in wheelchairs can make it upstairs.It's very unlikely that every single person standing downstairs blocking the door has a medical disability

thomasj

I remember a year or two ago when I was on a bus, downstairs was packed but plenty of seats upstairs.

Anyway despite the driver highlighting that people wouldn't be able to get on because there was no room to move downstairs, people wouldn't go upstairs.

Anyway, it got to the stage that the driver turned off the engine and refused to move unless people went upstairs. That made such a huge difference in that half of people standing went up and it meant more people were able to get on.

Joshycat

thomasj wrote: »

I remember a year or two ago when I was on a bus, downstairs was packed but plenty of seats upstairs.

Anyway despite the driver highlighting that people wouldn't be able to get on because there was no room to move downstairs, people wouldn't go upstairs.

Anyway, it got to the stage that the driver turned off the engine and refused to move unless people went upstairs. That made such a huge difference in that half of people standing went up and it meant more people were able to get on.

Yes exactly!!! Why can't all drivers do this?This should also be done with mothers who refuse to fold up buggies for wheelchair users

Gatling

Joshycat wrote: »

Yes exactly!!! Why can't all drivers do this?This should also be done with mothers who refuse to fold up buggies for wheelchair users

Unfortunately thanks to court action taken by one such mother a few years back its now a case of first come first served ,
They can be asked to fold but are not obliged

Eponymous

Tickityboo wrote: »

Bit over the top to take a photograph of the driver!!
Complain by all means but a photograph ffs.

Wouldn't need to take a photo if the driver wasn't being a dick.

Losty Dublin

Eponymous wrote: »

Wouldn't need to take a photo if the driver wasn't being a dick.

What did he say to you in the line of "abuse"?

sdanseo

n97 mini wrote: »

And what if there are 2 hour gaps in the timetable?

That's the sort of pointless route Network Direct was meant to eliminate.

Alas, this is Ireland.

n97 mini

sdeire wrote: »

That's the sort of pointless route Network Direct was meant to eliminate.

Alas, this is Ireland.

Au contraire, no orbital routes through west Dublin apart from this half baked service. We need proper orbital routes.

LXFlyer

sdeire wrote: »

That's the sort of pointless route Network Direct was meant to eliminate.

Alas, this is Ireland.

As explained numerous times before Network Direct was about redesigning the network into a combination of direct services to/from the city and local services that serve the communities. It was not about cancelling those routes at all.

The 239 is far from pointless, and you would know that if you used it.

LXFlyer

n97 mini wrote: »

Au contraire, no orbital routes through west Dublin apart from this half baked service. We need proper orbital routes.

Someone has to pay for that - funding was not forthcoming for either the 166 or enhanced 76 to Blanchardstown.

sdanseo

n97 mini wrote: »

Au contraire, no orbital routes through west Dublin apart from this half baked service. We need proper orbital routes.

lxflyer wrote: »

As explained numerous times before Network Direct was about redesigning the network into a combination of direct services to/from the city and local services that serve the communities. It was not about cancelling those routes at all.

The 239 is far from pointless, and you would know that if you used it.

Oh don't get me wrong, I agree we need more orbital routes.

My point is that the 239 in its current existence is horrendously underused and exists only to serve a tiny number of customers.

With such a low frequency, surely it would be better to re-organize it into a route which perhaps traverses a longer route, serves more areas, and thus can be operated more frequently.

LXFlyer

sdeire wrote: »

Oh don't get me wrong, I agree we need more orbital routes.

My point is that the 239 in its current existence is horrendously underused and exists only to serve a tiny number of customers.

With such a low frequency, surely it would be better to re-organize it into a route which perhaps traverses a longer route, serves more areas, and thus can be operated more frequently.

The 239 serves a valid purpose - to be honest the loads are not that bad despite what you might think.

I think it is a valid local route - that's the point. It is not a main orbital service - that would require a 76 extension to Blanchardstown.

vladicaris

Bus didn't stop even it was almost empty..

devnull

I've got the 239 end to end twice, once last year, and once about 4 years ago, I've never used it apart from that. I lived near Blanch at that point and needed to go down to near Liffey Valley, so it saved me a large amount of time versus going to the city center and getting a 40/78A as it was then etc.

It was very lightly used and most people were a mixture of various different quite short hops though. Very few end to end.

LXFlyer

devnull wrote: »

I've got the 239 end to end twice, once last year, and once about 4 years ago, I've never used it apart from that. I lived near Blanch at that point and needed to go down to near Liffey Valley, so it saved me a large amount of time versus going to the city center and getting a 40/78A as it was then etc.

It was very lightly used and most people were a mixture of various different quite short hops though. Very few end to end.

I would not expect many people to travel end-to-end. It is a local service linking various communities, and that's exactly what it is used for.

I've used it far more than that, and at different times, and you'd be surprised by how many people got on it at different stages, but it was very much a local bus service.