Dublin Bus Drivers:popping off for tea.

bobbyss · 14-10-2016 11:10pm #1

My bus arrives. The driver, hops out and pops into nearby shop for cup of tea. Two minutes later he hops on the bus again. And off we go. Starts drinking his tea while driving.

I get off at my stop and run to catch my connecting bus but it takes off. I have a twenty minute wait for my next one.

Am I angry? Boy am I angry.

StreetLight · 15-10-2016 12:56am

And so you should be. Unacceptable behaviour.

Hollister11 · 15-10-2016 1:07am

Gosh forbid the driver gets himself a cup of tea

StreetLight · 15-10-2016 1:33am

Hollister11 wrote: »

Gosh forbid the driver gets himself a cup of tea

And maybe spills it when driving, causing him to lose control of the bus.

visual · 15-10-2016 1:56am

sugarman wrote: »

Hollister11 wrote: »

Gosh forbid the driver gets himself a cup of tea

Yeah, on his designated break time, not mid route.

Look out the window plenty of car drivers drinking coffee especially in morning

Van.Bosch · 15-10-2016 1:56am

Hollister11 wrote: »

Gosh forbid the driver gets himself a cup of tea

Would you be okay with a doctor/teacher/taxi driver stopping during their job while performing a service for you for a cuppa?

15-10-2016 2:12am

In fairness OP, you wouldn't have been late for the other bus, if the other bus driver had also stopped for a cup of tea.

So there's two ways of looking at it, really..

More seriously, I don't mind the idea of a bus driver spending a couple of minutes out of the bus getting tea, using a toilet, stretching the legs, etc. you can't expect him to be a robot because he drives a bus.

15-10-2016 2:14am

Van.Bosch wrote: »

Would you be okay with a doctor/teacher/taxi driver stopping during their job while performing a service for you for a cuppa?

I'd be confident they all do. Between appointments etc. the only difference is the taxi driver. If the meter was paused, I wouldn't mind at all. Especially if it was a long journey fare.

bobbyss · 15-10-2016 5:37am

[Deleted User] wrote: »

I'd be confident they all do. Between appointments etc. the only difference is the taxi driver. If the meter was paused, I wouldn't mind at all. Especially if it was a long journey fare.

But am not talking about between appointments. If your doctor is examining you I don't think he's going to leave the surgery to get a cup of tea?
Drinking hot drinks as a professional driver? I am not sure that is ok.

D0NNELLY · 15-10-2016 5:59am

Van.Bosch wrote: »

Would you be okay with a doctor/teacher/taxi driver stopping during their job while performing a service for you for a cuppa?

Yes
He may as well blame traffic lights, passengers getting on/off and other traffic for him missing his connecting bus. They all played a part.

20 mins wait time is acceptable on public transport.

savagethegoat · 15-10-2016 8:49am

bobbyss wrote: »

My bus arrives. The driver, hops out and pops into nearby shop for cup of tea. Two minutes later he hops on the bus again. And off we go. Starts drinking his tea while driving.

I get off at my stop and run to catch my connecting bus but it takes off. I have a twenty minute wait for my next one.

Am I angry? Boy am I angry.

that's not really a connecting bus. Noone should leave themselves only two minutes to connect. Twenty minutes would be far more sensible.

helimachoptor · 15-10-2016 8:52am

I think it's still done now but not on my route as its changed. But on oliver plunkett road there's 2 chippers, drivers used to regularly stop on the way to dun laoghaire for something to eat.. on a busy day you could be 10 mins waiting for them!

frankyboy1986 · 15-10-2016 8:54am

I was the driver and it was a coffee btw

Hollister11 · 15-10-2016 9:33am

Van.Bosch wrote: »

Would you be okay with a doctor/teacher/taxi driver stopping during their job while performing a service for you for a cuppa?

Yes. I would.

Zipppy · 15-10-2016 9:42am

A human bus driver...fair play to him popping in for tea....keep him alert to road dangers to protect his passengers....

And..assuming this was dublin bus....no such thing as a connecting bus...if not DB ignore this comment ðŸ˜

savagethegoat · 15-10-2016 9:44am

it could be the case that the bus was 2 minutes early and waiting time so the Driver took his opportunity. Not the end of the world

bobbyss · 15-10-2016 9:49am

savagethegoat wrote: »

that's not really a connecting bus. Noone should leave themselves only two minutes to connect. Twenty minutes would be far more sensible.

I don't know.

My second bus departs at eg 11:00. Not 10:58.

But I could have been there anytime before departure as per normal without the driver induced delay. It would be irrelevant if I was two minutes early or ten minutes early. The bus still leaves at 12:00. I arrived at 12:02 instead and I saw my bus departing from its stop as I was running towards it.

We lost the two minutes because driver decided to have a cuppa. What about if that was the last connecting bus at night? That's really upsetting.

Cork Lass · 15-10-2016 9:58am

Did the bus leave late because he got a cuppa or did he get a cuppa because he had time to spare? It's all how you tell the story.

mahoganygas · 15-10-2016 10:02am

I walk past a driver who does this every morning.

I'd see no problem with it usually, except he parks in the bus lane, causing carnage when all of the buses behind him have to merge into main lane which is already at a standstill.

Del.Monte · 15-10-2016 10:02am

Ah, God be with the days (back in the 1970s) when bus crews could be seen hopping in and out of various pubs on the quays during their breaks. I kid you not.

NomadicGray · 15-10-2016 10:05am

Dont leave yourself only a two minute window to catch connecting buses.

endacl · 15-10-2016 10:05am

Van.Bosch wrote: »

Would you be okay with a doctor/teacher/taxi driver stopping during their job while performing a service for you for a cuppa?

If it was a procedure as long as a driver's shift, I'd expect them to take a break.

Ted111 · 15-10-2016 10:14am

If the bus was late leaving according to its time table then passengers have a legitimate complaint with dublin bus.

If the bus leaves at its designated time then what the driver does before hand is nobodies business. Tea and cake. A walk in the park to pick flowers. He can go for a back massage if he wants.

Baralis1 · 15-10-2016 10:17am

Give that man a pay rise!

rawn · 15-10-2016 10:45am

Little did you know, OP, that if the driver had not stopped for tea he would have been 2 minutes earlier for his route than he should have been. This would have meant an encounter with a speeding motorist, late for a meeting, who broke a red light and would have hit your bus head on, killing himself, the bus driver and 2 passengers, one of whom was just about to make a connecting bus. Count yourself lucky OP, he prevented a terrible catastroph-tea.

spurious · 15-10-2016 10:49am

sugarman wrote: »

Yeah, on his designated break time, not mid route.

And maybe his designated break time was an hour earlier while he was still driving in traffic.

Maybe all drivers should just stop the bus in the middle of the road when it gets to their designated break time, instead of finishing the route.