Signs On The Bus

I quite like some of the advertising that's on the buses within our public transport network. Most of them are aimed at the travelling public telling them how to behave but at least they are entertainging and get the message across. Take note advertisers.

We've all had to put up with people whose music is too loud.

Jack and Jill - how many times have you been inconvenienced by other travellers?

Plenty of graffidiots about - probably not smart enough to finish reading this.

Interesting couple of bus trips last week starring the same driver. An older lady, late 40s perhaps, who wears gloves and doesn't take any crap from anyone. As soon as I got on the bus she tooted the driver in front who hadn't reacted to the light change. Fair enough. Some weirdo got on and couldn't find his concession card so he asked her to wait. He jumped off the bus and checked the papers on the ground at the bus stop before finding his replacement paper in his pocket and began to explain that he's always losing his card and that this replacement was until his card was replaced. The driver got sit of this and took off and told him to move back. She obviously didn't want to hear his story. Later on some people were standing too close to the door and blocking the exit of others. The driver came out of her cabin and yelled at them, "Where are you getting off? Sit down and stop blocking the door so that people can get off the bus." The offenders sat down and didn't move.

Two days later, with the same driver, a young guy with earplugs got on. Everyone on the bus could hear his music. At the next set of lights the driver yelled out, "Who's playing loud music?"
"What?" he replied.
The she came out of the cabin and lectured us all on why they put the signs up in the buses - see Little Jack Horner pic. He turned the volume down so that I was unable to hear it, quick smart.

I love this bus driver.

Entertaining Bus Ride

Grabbed a bus home last night as usual. That's where normality was suspended for a while.

The driver took the wrong route. One of the passengers told her and as she was calling the base to explain that she'd made a driver error she cut across two lanes of traffic and almost took out a car who wasn't expecting that particular move. At the next corner we went over the kerb which caused us to lurch to the side. It wasn't long before one of the stops was missed. Around this time some guy got on who looked a bit like a sophisticated Gene Wilder with glasses. Honestly, he looked like a cartoon character. Bit further down the road we picked up another passenger who looked like one of the weirdos from Gary Larson's The Far Side. One side of her face was about an inch lower than the other.

Down the road a bit more and there was a person waving to the bus from the bus stop. The wave stopped and a look of bewilderment came over her face as the bus just drove past, even though the bell had been rung and someone wanted to get off. We stopped a little bit away from the bus stop to collect this new passenger. It was about this point that the driver mentioned she was having a bad day. At another stop somebody tagged off but the back door wasn't opened so she had to leave the bus from the front door. As soon as this happened the driver opened the back door. A young couple got on and discussed where they were heading for a while. At the end of Albany Highway the driver announced that this was the last stop on Albany Highway. One guy alighted and so did the couple. The driver called out to them that the bus did go past Carousel Shopping Centre, where they were headed, so they got back on. In actual fact, when the bus reaches the end of Albany Highway it turns onto Albany Highway and travels down it for another 5-10 kilometres. I think the driver became confused with the Shepperton Road bypass as we don't leave Albany Highway once we're on it.

Very entertaining bus ride as it turned out.

Bus Driver Falls Asleep on the Bus

I had the interesting position of seeing a bus driver asleep on the bus recently. Pretty harrowing situation. Normally. Except in this case he was a CAT (Central Area Transit) driver and he was obviously on the way home having finished his shift so there was nothing to worry about.

I wonder about a driving falling asleep when the heat is turned up though. What happens if he's a bit tired on the job and the cabin is a bit warm and feels like a kip?

Ben Cousins Makes Flipping The Bird Becomes Popular Again

Ben Cousins, disgraced former West Coast Eagles captain and now Richmond player, came back to Perth a couple of weeks ago for a match against the Fremantle Dockers. Ninety minutes before the game he spotted a TV camera and "flipped the bird" in its direction. Otherwise known as giving it the one-finger salute. The AFL was a bit unhappy about the action and fined Cousins $5000 as did his club. Ten grand for a gesture. I wonder what you could get away with in civilian life for a maximum $10k fine?

Anyway, it appears that the "bird" is becoming more popular. The other day I was wandering around the city and noticed a bus and a taxi trying to occupy the same position on the road. The taxi driver had overtaken on a double-white line, a no overtaking position, and had cut the bus driver off somewhat. They were both inching their vehicles forward to make life difficult for one another. Then you could hear the bus driver yelling. Finally he took his belt off, opened the door and stormed up to the front passenger door of the taxi, flipped the bird as he started mouthing off and opened the front door. He then gave some abuse and went back to his bus, leaving the taxi door open. Well, the taxi driver took his belt off, had a few words to say to the bus driver as he circled his car to close the door and got back in. Then the bus driver wound his window down, stuck his head out of the window and continued to give some abuse.

Amusing stuff. Has Ben Cousins made flipping the bird popular again? Can't see the bus driver getting fined $10k for his actions.

Interesting Happening On The Bus

Just when you think you've seen it all you realise that you haven't seen it all. There's always something happening on the bus. At a stop only about three stops from where I was due to alight tongiht some guy started banging on the window. He noticed a mobile phone at the bus stop and thought that it may belong to a passenger who had just boarded. The bus driver took possession of it and then started to call base to report it. Another guy crossed the road and stood in the middle of the traffic, not far from the lights which turned to green, and proceeded to describe the mobile he had just lost. The first guy had informed him that the bus driver had it. Once it was verified that it was his phone he was certainly happy to receive it in one piece.

And all the while that light was green and not a single beep from drivers behind the bus.

Another Funny Bus Incident

Riding the bus is a constant source of entertainment. Just a couple of days ago I noticed that there was a chart near the drive stating where to turn, left or right, at streets along the route. Obviously a new bus driver. She was a bit rough on the accelerator, but not nearly as much as some, so it showed.

After getting off at my stop I noticed the bus go straight through a roundabout. That was a bit strange as it was supposed to turn right at that roundabout. I was quite amused to walk past the bus at the place it had stopped and even talked to one of the passengers who got off. She was rather bemused also. The bus driver was asking if anybody wanted to get off as she wasn't going to be able to turn around to do two or three stops before joining the route again.

So funny.

Wrong Way, Jose

Perhaps in this case it should be "Wrong way, Josephine." Yesterday there was a new bus driver on the route that I take most often. She didn't appear to be in a good mood and one can only guess the reasons for this. About five minutes into the journey she was supposed to make a left turn to continue but instead she just carried on. I was reading a newspaper and so didn't notice for another couple of minutes. I was thinking that we were going to arrive in the city fairly quickly and that there would be quite a few irate usual passengers, especially those who would have seen the bus go past as there is a stop quite close to the turning point and there are two regulars who get on the bus there.

Halfway into town and the driver stopped at a bus stop even though the traffic lights just ahead were green. At this point I believe she realised that she'd taken a wrong turn and decided to pick up as best she could. Back to the usual route we went but she didn't double back. Seeing as the bus comes only about every 30 minutes for that route I'm glad that I wasn't one of the stranded passengers. I quite often see one of them when I'm leaving work but yesterday this wasn't the case. I'll have a chat if I do see him though but I don't think that he'll be laughing about it too much.

Amusing Bus Ride

The bus was quite late yesterday. I was starting to think that I had missed it altogether. When it finally arrived it wasn't the usual driver at the wheel. No problem with that. It was amusing when we came to a major intersection and she called out, "Which way does this bus normally go?"

And you thought that people don't like to be told how to do their job?

Contrasting Bus Drivers

Yesterday arvo I had a meeting sprung on me that went way over time. I ended up working an hour later than planned. Luckily there was a stack of buses, about seven or so, heading to the bus stop and the last one in the queue was one that I wanted to catch. When I caught up to the bus he still hadn't reached the bus stop due to the number of buses in front. I gestured to the driver to let me on and he just pointed to the bus stop. Playing by the rules I guess so not much wrong with that.

This morning I was walking to the bus stop and gas-bagging to my mum. "Oh, bugger," I said as I'd noticed the bus coming to the traffic lights which are about 100m before the bus stop, "There goes my bus." I didn't even motion to the driver but continued talking until I noticed the driver had put the indicator on. There was no-one else at the bus stop so he was pulling in for me. So I did the right thing and ran after the bus and thanked him very much. I had resigned myself to waiting for the next bus but that would have been rude to convey to the driver. At least it gave me time to blog about it before starting work.

Talk about a contrast in bus drivers' attitudes.

Who Does Your Bus Driver Look Like?

I got on the bus last night and my bus driver looked like Ice-T

- source http://img.timeinc.net/time/digital/reports/mp3/images/ice_t.jpg.

No kidding. Pony tail and all. And he didn’t say hello. There’s another guy whose bus I used to catch who looks like Mark Woodford - the one on the right.

- source http://www.tennfit.com.au/images/IMG_0631.jpg.

He even dresses like him for Radio Lollipop day – they raise money for Princess Margaret Children’s Hospital. Surely they don’t make as much money these days as people don’t carry change due to almost everyone having a SmartRider. I've got a mate who looks like Mark Woodford, and he was a bus driver, but that's another story.

Two days ago I was the only person on the bus for about a third of my trip to work. So I got to have a bit of a chinwag with the driver. Most drivers, it turns out, work split shifts and this is something that he doesn’t enjoy. And he has to work most Friday and Saturday nights. The reason he doesn’t like those nights is because he has to deal with drunks and “shit people”, as he put it.

Narky Bus Driver

I had my hands full this arvo. What, with a big jacket, backpack and an umbrella. So I hailed the bus with my umbrella. I gave the bus driver a friendly, "G'day mate," as I boarded the bus and his response was, somewhat delayed, "Please show me your hand when you want a bus."

What to do, what to do? If I catch his bus tomorrow should I;

a) pop my hand out of my sleeve at the last moment?
b) bow as well as lowering and raising both hands in homage?
c) do a Hitler salute?

I could have fun with this guy but methinks he doesn't have a great sense of humour.

Bus Drivers Can't Have Dreary Jobs

I've often thought that bus drivers must have dreary jobs. They drive the same way each day, unless they are on some sort of rotating shift, meet the same people, experience the same traffic congestion, etc. You hear them on the radio back to base occasionally and seeing as there must be about 2000 buses on our roads, (I'm only guessing) surely something happens.

Yesterday I was standing on the bus as all the seats were taken and I heard a lady bus driver on the radio. She was calling the base to alert the police to an assault. Apparently a light-skinned aboriginal woman was being beaten up by a darker-skinned aboriginal man in Thornlie. The woman had blood running down her face. The bus driver was a bit distressed about the situation and had tried to get the woman on the bus but the man assaulting her wouldn't allow that to happen. Comments like, "She doesn't deserve the beating she is getting", and "She's getting the crap beaten out of her" indicate that this bloke wasn't holding back and didn't care who saw.

Would you intervene? The driver had tried to intervene but was unsuccessful. I guess if you had tried to help out the assailant would realise that you are a regular user of that bus service and there's every chance that he would target that route until he found you. I think that aboriginals are quite violent when provoked, perhaps slightly moreso than the general public, so if I'd had the time to think about it I'd be unlikely to intervene. Let's hope the police caught the guy responsible. And let's have not of this "alleged" bullshit.