things that irritate and annoy you
As you were talking about plastic barriers between driver and passenger, I thought I'd enlighten you about the process here. Whilst we don't have a plastic divider, there is a slot the money goes through, with a glass pane for the driver to check the currect amount has been put in. However, the drivers usually communicate with a series of grunts, and trying to be polite, or even asking a simple question, rewards you with a glare from the driver.
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Gavin Scott
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Edinburgh's Lothian Buses (or LRT as everyone continues to call them) have always operated an exact change policy - back when pensioners paid with 5p tokens and you got a teeny square ticket like they used to give in the cinema. But, good lord, I actually remember clippies (conductors) on Eastern Scottish that came and gave you a ticket.
Drivers have been behind perspex for yonks, and have he ability to close and lock the door to the upstairs from their seat if some dodgy young 'uns get on and they don't want them smoking dope up there.
Its a flat fare on LRT, no matter the service or distance citywide. Every so often the fares go up to an awkward figure that often means you pay extra because you don't have change. Right now its £1.30. That is the epitome of an awkward price.
The do keep winning bus provider awards, whatever they are.
(As if by magic, one of my technical wizards will split this topic, as its quite interesting and I don't know how to do it).
Drivers have been behind perspex for yonks, and have he ability to close and lock the door to the upstairs from their seat if some dodgy young 'uns get on and they don't want them smoking dope up there.
Its a flat fare on LRT, no matter the service or distance citywide. Every so often the fares go up to an awkward figure that often means you pay extra because you don't have change. Right now its £1.30. That is the epitome of an awkward price.
The do keep winning bus provider awards, whatever they are.
(As if by magic, one of my technical wizards will split this topic, as its quite interesting and I don't know how to do it).
It's hard to see, but that is the best picture that shows an NXWM Bus cab, you can see the 'pod' in which the drivers are installed. Just irritates me how they separate the drivers - the whole them and us, apartheid, "we're some kind of protected species" attitude the drivers have.
EDIT: Here's a photo which shows the cage better:
I think it's lexan glass.
EDIT 2: there is talk of scrapping cash fares within 4 years now - that means bus journeys will be 10,000 times longer as people won't know that they can't use cash anymore. Urrgh.
Talking of awkward fares, First in our area have a £1.95 fare. I mean, really?
From where I live, to get to the city centre you pay a fare of £2.40. On one of those utter rotboxes which smell like old ladies, are full of moss, and are filthy (Volvo Olympians, for any bus nuts)
And the other service has a fare of £1.30, and uses buses that are clean, low-floor, modern, and a couple even have leather seats such as this one! Although we rarely get the privelege of them. Not only that, but the journey is 15 minutes shorter.
You'd also expect the buses to run inbetween each other to provide a 15 minute service (they are both every half hour) but in fact they both turn up within five minutes of each other. Ludicrous.
From where I live, to get to the city centre you pay a fare of £2.40. On one of those utter rotboxes which smell like old ladies, are full of moss, and are filthy (Volvo Olympians, for any bus nuts)
And the other service has a fare of £1.30, and uses buses that are clean, low-floor, modern, and a couple even have leather seats such as this one! Although we rarely get the privelege of them. Not only that, but the journey is 15 minutes shorter.
You'd also expect the buses to run inbetween each other to provide a 15 minute service (they are both every half hour) but in fact they both turn up within five minutes of each other. Ludicrous.
That's another annoying bus thing;Malpass93 wrote:There is usually a plastic cage on my bus, but it is ill-fitting and bangs against the interior of the bus. That is itself is annoying, let alone the whole idea of the cage.
Plastic banging, windows shaking ect. Why can't they tighten the locking nuts on the fibreglass maintenance covers, make sure the nuts holding the polycarbonate screening are tight once a month or similar, sitting through a 25 minute bus journey with constant noise just gives me a headache, the chavs and idiots around me, when mixed with that, cause me to feel rage. Ugh.
People trying and failing to sound clever by using big words they don't fully understand.
A: I've seen someone self-immolate before
B: What?
A: Spontaneously combust.
B: Oh...
Sponanteous combustion is spontaneous. Self-immolators deliberately set themselves on fire. Durr.
A: I've seen someone self-immolate before
B: What?
A: Spontaneously combust.
B: Oh...
Sponanteous combustion is spontaneous. Self-immolators deliberately set themselves on fire. Durr.
Going back to buses, if I may briefly, our part of the world has just received another shipment of second-hand ex-London buses. This time, double deckers, with the doors in the middle* and half-assed covered up bomb warnings with TFL logos. Newport needs a good supply of double deckers as it does a lot of the school runs, but this week with it being half term, they've been doing normal runs which include the 10-minute round trips to some of Newport's suburbs. Which is ridiculous, as they only carry about 10 old people and the odd straggler. I do wonder sometimes if they have to fulfil a usage quota to justify owning them - why else would they eschew hoppers in favour of something which used to chug up and down Oxford Street?
*One day I will wait at the middle door to see if the driver lets me get off that way, a la London, or if he insists on me using the front door.
Oh and for those still interested, yes I am still doing my daily walks (6 mile round trip), I just used the bus this morning because I have a stinking head cold and I have new glasses which currently give me the sensation of being pissed and/or aboard a ship. Or being pissed on a ship; so I didn't fancy the thrash this morning.
*One day I will wait at the middle door to see if the driver lets me get off that way, a la London, or if he insists on me using the front door.
Oh and for those still interested, yes I am still doing my daily walks (6 mile round trip), I just used the bus this morning because I have a stinking head cold and I have new glasses which currently give me the sensation of being pissed and/or aboard a ship. Or being pissed on a ship; so I didn't fancy the thrash this morning.
