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Post by londonbusboy on Apr 4, 2020 22:28:29 GMT
I've stopped driving for the time being. Last shift I did at a garage that shall remain nameless, social distancing guidelines were not being taken seriously and the cabs of the buses were filthy. I had a load of Dettol and Flash wipes but used more than expected as 3 bus duties instead of 2 are in vogue. It's hitting me in the pocket but I'm in the vulnerable group and wish to reduce risk. Solutions rather than problems should be presented however. Mine is not going into work. For those who are then it's down to both drivers and management to establish and stick to practices that mitigate risk. I cant comment on the news article for obvious reasons but i am really annoyed at doing Saturday and potentially Sunday duties for the foreseeable. The duties are longer which exposes us even further!
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Post by capitalomnibus on Apr 5, 2020 0:09:54 GMT
Just been looking at the latest TfL operator performance league tables, Arriva and Go-Ahead divisions absolutely smashing it lately, both on low and high frequency services. Good work there. Especially excellent performance at Arriva London South. Just been looking at these myself and I’m trying to get my head round them. So a couple of questions I hope someone can answer 1) Why do the different operators have different targets for benchmarks and minimum standards? 2) Why does it show the different divisions of operators (ie London General, London Central etc, rather than just Go-Ahead?) It seems a bit unfair on poor Sullivan’s. It would seem their performance seems to be bad just because any mistakes from them would show up as a larger percentage because they have a smaller volume of routes. In the high frequency table they only have the 217 to be judged by, which I’m sure can be an absolute pig to control if the A10 snarls up. Even though I’m sure they’re probably no worse than any other operator. The different EWT figures beside each operator you are seeing is an average of every route the operator runs then rounded of to get an average figure. It can be certain routes pull certain opertors down more than others. Down to whether schedules, lack of staff, roadworks (the most common now) or traffic. When each route is retendered the EWT figure is looked at, if TfL feel the operator is doing too well, they would change this figure or look to take a bus out of the schedule as it can mean higher bonus payments which in effect costs the tax payer.
IIRC it is done in the way the routes are won/operating division. i.e. London General, London Central, Docklands Buses, Blue Triangle.
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Post by 6HP502C on Apr 5, 2020 1:04:36 GMT
I cant comment on the news article for obvious reasons but i am really annoyed at doing Saturday and potentially Sunday duties for the foreseeable. The duties are longer which exposes us even further! That's a very fair point. We know that duties are longer on weekends to reduce the number required so more drivers can have the weekend off, but I can imagine it will get tiring, doing long duties every day. I doubt anybody wants that to be ongoing any longer than is necessary. It's something that has been implemented very quickly as a response to the lockdown with pretty much no notice. I suspect that bus scheduling teams may well be busy creating duties with reduced shift lengths that work with the special weekend based schedules currently in place on weekdays.
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Post by Pilot on Apr 5, 2020 9:20:12 GMT
The joke is, we got straight-thru duties in my garage on Sundays so whoever gets that for a week will be a happy man...at the same time this probably won't happen because on Sunday not even half of the buses are out of the garage so garages wouldn't have jobs for all the drivers, unless they start splitting duties in half or something.
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Post by londonbusboy on Apr 5, 2020 9:21:16 GMT
I cant comment on the news article for obvious reasons but i am really annoyed at doing Saturday and potentially Sunday duties for the foreseeable. The duties are longer which exposes us even further! That's a very fair point. We know that duties are longer on weekends to reduce the number required so more drivers can have the weekend off, but I can imagine it will get tiring, doing long duties every day. I doubt anybody wants that to be ongoing any longer than is necessary. It's something that has been implemented very quickly as a response to the lockdown with pretty much no notice. I suspect that bus scheduling teams may well be busy creating duties with reduced shift lengths that work with the special weekend based schedules currently in place on weekdays. You'd think they would but i doubt it lol
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Post by enviroPB on Apr 7, 2020 13:08:24 GMT
So I had an experience I was dreading would happen last night...a bus driver not deeming me worthy to stop for me.
I've implied that I am a key worker in a post last week. My normal job of stock auditing was postponed almost 4 weeks ago due to the pandemic, and to help in the plight supermarkets are facing we were instead asked to help stock shelves in-store. I try to ignore that I have that little bit of freedom of movement more than most folk, as the enthusiasm in me will kick in and clearly I don't want to put myself or others at risk. With that being said, I am a key worker with no access to a car so public transport is vital to me.
So after finishing work and tired as poop, the last thing I need is a N15 driver deciding to close the doors early on me cause in his head, I'm not worthy. Now I know I'm infamously talked about amongst the drivers, I can even identify myself in a local newspaper article when two RR drivers were interviewed about being a night driver. With this current coronavirus situation and the fact that the N15 is easily my most used route as I'm typically out late at night, I simply cannot fathom riding a bus for fun. And indeed I do not go on joyrides on the route as it's essential for me to get home most nights.
The driver was lucky I couldn't catch up to him to make a statement. I don't need to verify to any drivers if I'm key worker at present, but if the rules change I'm happy to do so. My urge to report him is not needed in these exceptional times; also I've said it loads of times but have only reported a driver to TfL once in my life. Instead I'll withdraw my thank yous when I board and alight. Not saying he doesn't need to be respected as bus driving is a very difficult job and I am in a position with my extended knowledge to appreciate that. I'm just saying my kind manners I offer to all will be retracted with him as a reaction to his unprofessional behaviour.
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Post by vjaska on Apr 7, 2020 13:30:18 GMT
So I had an experience I was dreading would happen last night...a bus driver not deeming me worthy to stop for me. I've implied that I am a key worker in a post last week. My normal job of stock auditing was postponed almost 4 weeks ago due to the pandemic, and to help in the plight supermarkets are facing we were instead asked to help stock shelves in-store. I try to ignore that I have that little bit of freedom of movement more than most folk, as the enthusiasm in me will kick in and clearly I don't want to put myself or others at risk. With that being said, I am a key worker with no access to a car so public transport is vital to me. So after finishing work and tired as poop, the last thing I need is a N15 driver deciding to close the doors early on me cause in his head, I'm not worthy. Now I know I'm infamously talked about amongst the drivers, I can even identify myself in a local newspaper article when two RR drivers were interviewed about being a night driver. With this current coronavirus situation and the fact that the N15 is easily my most used route as I'm typically out late at night, I simply cannot fathom riding a bus for fun. And indeed I do not go on joyrides on the route as it's essential for me to get home most nights. The driver was lucky I couldn't catch up to him to make a statement. I don't need to verify to any drivers if I'm key worker at present, but if the rules change I'm happy to do so. My urge to report him is not needed in these exceptional times; also I've said it loads of times but have only reported a driver to TfL once in my life. Instead I'll withdraw my thank yous when I board and alight. Not saying he doesn't need to be respected as bus driving is a very difficult job and I am in a position with my extended knowledge to appreciate that. I'm just saying my kind manners I offer to all will be retracted with him as a reaction to his unprofessional behaviour. Welcome to the shelf stacking game my friend.
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Post by enviroPB on Apr 7, 2020 13:52:10 GMT
So I had an experience I was dreading would happen last night...a bus driver not deeming me worthy to stop for me. I've implied that I am a key worker in a post last week. My normal job of stock auditing was postponed almost 4 weeks ago due to the pandemic, and to help in the plight supermarkets are facing we were instead asked to help stock shelves in-store. I try to ignore that I have that little bit of freedom of movement more than most folk, as the enthusiasm in me will kick in and clearly I don't want to put myself or others at risk. With that being said, I am a key worker with no access to a car so public transport is vital to me. So after finishing work and tired as poop, the last thing I need is a N15 driver deciding to close the doors early on me cause in his head, I'm not worthy. Now I know I'm infamously talked about amongst the drivers, I can even identify myself in a local newspaper article when two RR drivers were interviewed about being a night driver. With this current coronavirus situation and the fact that the N15 is easily my most used route as I'm typically out late at night, I simply cannot fathom riding a bus for fun. And indeed I do not go on joyrides on the route as it's essential for me to get home most nights. The driver was lucky I couldn't catch up to him to make a statement. I don't need to verify to any drivers if I'm key worker at present, but if the rules change I'm happy to do so. My urge to report him is not needed in these exceptional times; also I've said it loads of times but have only reported a driver to TfL once in my life. Instead I'll withdraw my thank yous when I board and alight. Not saying he doesn't need to be respected as bus driving is a very difficult job and I am in a position with my extended knowledge to appreciate that. I'm just saying my kind manners I offer to all will be retracted with him as a reaction to his unprofessional behaviour. Welcome to the shelf stacking game my friend. It hurts but Britannia is hurting more. 😫
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Apr 8, 2020 18:04:48 GMT
I'm all in favour of protecting drivers as much as possible but this SP parked at Harrow bus station is stretching it slightly...
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Post by ​galwhv69 on Apr 8, 2020 19:37:43 GMT
I'm all in favour of protecting drivers as much as possible but this SP parked at Harrow bus station is stretching it slightly... It's only a staff bus
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Post by Deleted on Apr 9, 2020 16:17:33 GMT
Seems as though the Coronavirus iBus announcement has had an update: www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2hrNcyd1DsDoes anyone know whether this plays at timed intervals or through the request of the driver?
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Post by M1104 on Apr 9, 2020 21:06:12 GMT
Seems as though the Coronavirus iBus announcement has had an update: www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2hrNcyd1DsDoes anyone know whether this plays at timed intervals or through the request of the driver? According to a Go-Ahead driver it's now one of the preset messages, thus at the request of the driver
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Post by Pilot on Apr 10, 2020 12:16:05 GMT
It used to be once every hour, now it's pre-set and a lot of the drivers pressing it every single time they serve the stop to annoy passengers with it.
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Post by 10121ddo on Apr 10, 2020 16:18:39 GMT
Couldn't find a good thread for this query in the London Bus Routes topic. Why was the 435 discontinued, and then either replaced immediately / shortly afterwards by the 482? Do the routes from Southall to Heathrow Cargo differ at all?
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Post by vjaska on Apr 10, 2020 16:30:10 GMT
Couldn't find a good thread for this query in the London Bus Routes topic. Why was the 435 discontinued, and then either replaced immediately / shortly afterwards by the 482? Do the routes from Southall to Heathrow Cargo differ at all? The 435 & 482 routes are quite different - the 435 followed the 105 to Harlington Corner before heading towards Hatton Cross whilst the 482 runs via Heston & Hounslow West straight to Hatton Cross
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