Bravery Honoured

Its great to see the bravery of this bus driver being recognised by his employers.

A First Devon and Cornwall company spokesperson said: "One of our drivers was involved in an incident. The driver, travelling on Service 4 towards Keyham, came across a vehicle on fire.

"On realising that a man was also involved in the fire, he stopped his bus in such a way to shield the scene and protect his passengers, before getting out and assisting the injured man. All of our buses carry fire extinguishers so he had this at his disposal to help.

"The injured man was already out of the car when our driver arrived, but he was on fire.

"Our driver helped to extinguish the flames and then stayed with him, keeping him calm, maintaining his airway and continuing to talk to him until the emergency services arrived.

"We are incredibly proud of our driver's actions. The scene was distressing but he acted quickly, remaining calm under pressure.

 

Full story The Herald

Inadequate

In the same week that Citybus place ten brand new low floor easy access buses into service we get a familiar story in the local paper:

A YOUNG wheelchair user says he is being made to feel “inadequate” after being left stranded by up to five buses a day. Daniel Brabazon, from Plympton, is demanding Citybus improves disabled access to its vehicles. The 23-year-old, who is paralysed from the waist down, is regularly denied access to the company’s city centre to Derriford Hospital services. He has complained that they rarely boast a wheelchair ramp – and drivers are not allowed to help users board.

The Herald accompanied him on his journey to work, which begins at 10.20am from a bus stop near his home. A friendly driver helped Daniel up a manual lift-down wheelchair ramp and onto the number 22 Citybus service to Royal Parade. But a quick connection there was impossible when the number 28 he needed to catch arrived without any ramp facility.

Daniel said he faced the same problem with the 42 and 28/A services, both also destined for Derriford Hospital, on a daily basis. The ‘low rider’ vehicles, designed to lower to kerb-height so wheelchair users can simply roll on and off, are useless where kerbs are not raised.

Responding to Daniel’s complaint, acting general manager Peter Oliver said around 75 per cent of buses were fitted with ramps. But he added: “Users of local bus services must be able to board and alight bus services unaided.”

This is Plymouth

As is often the case this story has raised plenty of comments with quite a discussion on the old wheelchair v pram argument. I don't know if there is any difference between First Group and Citybus policy in this area but many buses do have notices saying that wheelchair users have priority but I have seen arguments when the mothers have refused to move, stating that they were their first, they have paid their fare and they have just as much right to travel on the bus as anyone else. The vast majority of passengers will do their best to move and do what ever is needed to accommodate wheelchair users but its not always possible to make room. I have also witnessed one occasion when a wheelchair user gave a driver a mouthful of abuse when the driver stopped but explained he had no room (he had a full standing load). He offered to radio back to ask the next bus to watch out for him and try and keep some room. Apparently the two previous buses had just driven straight past so you could understand the passengers frustration but that was still no excuse for the tirade of abuse he gave to the one driver who did stop. It does highlight that at the end of the day, whatever policy is put in place by ‘head office; its the driver who takes the brunt when passengers dont like it.

Unrealtime Display

On a totally unrelated issue I notice that the less than brilliant real time display system that is in place on a few lucky bus stops seems to have given up the ghost. Certainly all the bus stops I have noticed this last few days the display has just been the current date and time. Apparently some just tell you to look up the bus timetables! This system has never really fulfilled all the promises made of it, and was never installed at enough bus stops. Have they just now given up on it all together or is it just at temporary blip?

Wheelchair ramp photo by Oran Viriyincy

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Elsewhere on the net

• Cross-linking’s actually nothing new, of course, and many city to suburb services in many towns have seen at least some cross-linking at some point in their history Omnibuses
• Then there was the huge intellectual challenge of using the toilet on Southern's trains. It used to be so simple: "Gentlemen, lift the seat" and "Not while the train is standing at a station". But now ... Public Transport Experience
• This week's Sunday Lost Scenes comes from Oxford in 2006... Southern England Bus Scene
• Most bus enthusiasts will be aware of King Alfred buses, one-time operators in the Winchester area Public Transport Experience
• Sadly yesterday, the question posed in the original blog post about First's retrenchment has become a brutal reality. Omnibuses
• As you will have been informed by from Monday's Sunday Lost Scenes, I went to Oxford on Sunday 1st April and managed to capture some of the rarer operations on camera Southern England Bus Scene
• A-Line Coaches has (finally!) received this fine looking ALX200 bodied Volvo B6LE, from, quite obviously, Stagecoach! PTOTPA
• fbb is in Wantage and on a search for bus information, a search which has proved fruitless on previous visits. Public Transport Experience
• Avid readers of the blog will have heard it all before (twice, in fact…), but this year we’re definitely off to the Penzance Running Day - even if it kills me. 270KTA
• Wilts & Dorset are in the process of receiving a large delivery of Volvo B7RLE/Wright Eclipse Urban mark 2 buses to upgrade the More routes in Bournemouth Southern England Bus Scene

get off my bus

A pregnant mother says she was forced to get off a bus because the driver was disturbed by her toddler's behaviour. Sharon Tracey, 35, said she was told by the driver to keep her two-year-old son Brandon quiet on the number 62 in Plymouth, Devon.
The transport company Plymouth CityBus said it was investigating. The alleged incident happened on Tuesday as part-time hairdresser Mrs Tracey, who is four months pregnant, was heading home to Crownhill from the city centre.
She said: "He had been in town, he was fed up and hot and was screaming to get out. "I was doing my best to keep him quiet.
"The driver turned round and said if I did not shut him up we would be thrown off."
Her husband Paul, 38, said: "I had a phone call from her saying a bus driver had thrown her and my son of the bus. "I had to ask her to repeat it as I was stuck for words. I cannot get my head around it. If this guy does a school run, how is he going to cope?"
A CityBus spokesman said CCTV from the bus was being checked and all evidence would be investigated.
Full story BBC News

These sort of stories often appear in the local papers as bus companies seem to be soft targets. At least these days with cctv the stories can often be checked and quite often be disproved altogether. Look back through Leon Daniels blog to see a couple of high profile news stories where accusations were made which ended up in the national news only to be completely debunked later. By then the damage has been done as the follow up rarely gets the same attention in the news.
It remains to be seen if this is the case with this story. I kind of hope it is as it shows poor judgement by the driver. That said a screaming toddler can indeed by a distraction to a driver which could potentially be a safety issue? I have often been on a bus and seen drivers cope with such screaming toddlers without a word. I guess they must be used to it. Who'd want to be a bus driver?

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Uncle Terry: 128 Under lock and key
Uncle Terry: 129: On the river bank
A Transport of Delight: Driverless tubkart
Omnibuses: Normal service to be resumed... A post to say he hasn't posted - enjoy the break!!
TGP Dads Daily: England!
PTOTPA: Ever again?
Leon Daniels: Stars of route 9

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Enjoy the break

Wishing you all a Happy Christmas!

Its Christmas Day tomorrow which is a family day so no sitting in front of the computer for long periods of time, I have to be sociable and join in the family fun. Normal service will resume in a few days time although I am sure you will excuse me if posts are not as frequent over the Christmas period. I hope you all have a great Christmas and get what you want from Santa (I'm getting a new PC and Camera, but its got to wait till January...). Finally, just taking a look at yesterdays twitter activity from both Citybus and First you can get a flavour of just how difficult conditions have been for everyone trying to run a bus service. Big thanks therefore to the bus companies who have made  a sterling effort in keeping as many services running as possible, and of course a big thank you to all the bus drivers who have had the job of transporting customers across Plymouth on extremely icy roads. We have seen an extremely nasty accident in Cornwall where two passengers have died, and lots of 'minor' traffic accidents including a Citybus taking out several parked cars as it slid on ice at Keyham, thankfully no injuries on that one. I am sure all bus drivers will be looking forward to a couple days break even more than usual this year!

Yesterday on Twitter/Facebook First Adverse weather update - Service 35 in Cornwall has been suspended due to ice Adverse weather update - Services 25, 35, 47, 84, 85/85A, 93, 94, 95 are not operating in Cornwall due to ice Adverse weather update - Service 1/1A is not serving Oaklands Drive and Yellowtor Road in Saltash due to ice Adverse weather update - Service 4 is not serving Admiralty Road in Keyham, Plymouth due to ice Adverse weather update - Service X80 in South Devon is severely disrupted due to ice Adverse weather update - Service 93 in South Devon is severely disrupted due to ice and is not serving Aveton Gifford. Adverse weather update - Service 76 between Plymouth and Callington is not serving St Dominic due to ice Adverse weather update - Services 1/1A in Saltash are not operating via Oaklands Drive and Yellowtor Road due to ice Adverse weather update - Service Tavistock are not serving the bus station due to ice Citybus Admiralty Street Keyham closed due to icy roads and an accident Buses are unable to use Yellowtor Road Saltash due to ice 152 main road only It is likely that we will be unable to operate full routes in Plymouth due to the lack of gritting Updates here as soon as we become aware Sevice 26 unable to serve Yellowtor Road, the business park and Pillmere estate in Saltash due to icy roads. Service 22 is unable to serve the Merafield area due to icy roads Pike Road Efford closed due to an accident. Service 8 turning at Laira, service 9 using Blanford Road Services 8, 9 and 22 are back to normal. Thank you for your patience. We are trying to find out if the roads in Saltash are now open. Apologies for the delays with this update. Services are now back to normal in Saltash Thank you for your patience. The improved weather forecast should help us to improve reliability. Just a reminder all our bus services finish early on Xmas Eve see our website for full details We are having problems in Loosleigh Lane, Yeomans Way, Holly Park, St Pancras Avenue and Yellowtor Road. It looks like the icy weather has not left us yet. Buses are unable to operate in these areas and will continue to be unable to do so until the roads are gritted. Service 42 withdrawn from leatfield drive due to icy roads I'm afraid to say things are getting worse. We can no longer serve Keswick Crescent, Weston Mill, Chaucer Way, and Cobbitt Road. Our bus has just followed the gritter around Holmwood Avenue, the spinner on the lorry was working but no grit was coming out - very useful. If this continues we will have very few buses left running tonight. Check out this page tomorrow morning for updates on route problems and other operational news. We will do all we can to operate our buses but we will not jeopardise the safety of our customers or staff. Thank you for supporting Plymouth Citybus. Buses on services 46 and 47 are now unable to access the rear of the ASDA store in Estover.

Bish Bash Bosh

"probably the sort of incident that bus drivers are dealing with every day” Others... TGP Diesels Brunels Broad Gauge Exeter High Street

Whenever you read a story in the news papers to do with buses, you will always see comments to the effect that all bus drivers are rude, cant drive wont help anyone, and are miserable. Its clearly rubbish, but the comments always come out. So its always nice to be able to report on a driver being extra helpful and quick thinking this afternoon. We caught the 46A home from Derriford at 3:15 ish and when it reached the top of Keswick Crescent, just after school kicking out, there was already a fight on progress. Quite a few boys involved with one young lad coming out worse. He got on our bus, which I am sure was an escape for him, but then trouble soon started again with a few unhelpful comments from other lads already on the bus. As we had Zak on the bus with us, on his way home from having his plaster removed, and therefore not feeling too good, I had to intervene to stop the fight which took place right in front of us, on the back seats. Too close for comfort to my son. The language was also an issue for us. and other passengers on the bus. We soon split them up but the bus driver called the young lad at the centre of it all down to the front. I was worried that he was going to be kicked off the bus, which in any other circumstances he would have deserved. Instead he took the opportunity to sit the lad down behind the driver, getting him away from the others where he could calm down. It also saved him from a continued beating he would have received had he been kicked off. All in all its probably the sort of incident that bus drivers are dealing with every day on the school run, with no credit or thanks from anyone. Well, thanks from us to this driver. You handled it very well.

Bus Drivers

A man is today fighting for his life after being hit by a bus during rush-hour in a busy Plymouth road.The 41-year-old is in a critical condition following the accident involving a Plymouth Citybus in Embankment Road just before 5pm yesterday. He was trying to cross the road near a bus stop close to the Cattedown Roundabout when he was struck in the city-bound carriageway by a service from Plympton. [This is Plymouth]

This was the story as reported by the Evening Herald on This Is Plymouth. Police are studying the cctv footage supplied by the bus company to get the full facts as to how the accident happened.

The thing that caught my attention to this sad story is the many comments left by readers:

Those bus drivers are selfish and sometimes drive like maniacs! I have on many occasions had to react quickly to prevent a collision with those buses when I try and turn left into cattedown road.

I catch a bus to work every day and have on numerous occasions been thrown from my seat or when waiting to get off the bus, been jerked and jolted as the driver is going too fast and has to break too quickly

Its sad that whenever an accident like this occurs you always get these comments. People seem to hold bus drivers in such low esteem yet he statistics always show that bus drivers are just about the safest drivers on the road.

We hope the pedestrian makes a full recovery. The driver is also off sick - lets hope he recovers soon too.

Relief for bus driver

Great news for one bus driver today

07:52 - 02 March 2006 This is Plymouth
A bus driver who was stabbed with a needle said a massive weight had been lifted from his shoulders when he discovered he had not contracted the HIV virus.Graham Jenkin, of St Judes, was stabbed in broad daylight by an unknown attacker last November as he let passengers off his number 34 Citybus vehicle at a stop in Chapel Street, Devonport.

This was a total random attack which was reported back in this blog when it happened back in November last year. I am glad to be able to bring a happy ending to this horrific story.

It does make you wonder why anyone would want to drive a bus.

Soapbox Sunday

12 February 2006 Soap Box Sunday

"A soapbox is a raised, improvised platform on which one stands to make an impromptu speech, often about a political subject. Alternately, the word may be used to describe the box that soap comes in." Wikipedia

Going back to the news story I mentioned yesterday of the impending possibilty of strike action by Plymoth Citybus drivers. I wont comment on the rights and wrongs of the strike as I dont know the details of the charges against the driver whose dismissal has caused this problem.

What has drawn my attention though is the news article on This Is Plymouth web site. Readers can leave comments on the news story. Usually there are not that many comments left, but this story has attracted 26 comments as I write this blog.

i whole heartedly support citybus in this case to many drivers drive without a thought for there passengers safety

Time and again I have nearly had a car accident through buses pulling out and THEN indicating. Bus drivers seem to have no respect for others on the road, often using their size of vehicle as a threat.

I have been on many Citybus buses and seen many examples of, at best 'careless' driving. Well done Citybus for taking action.

I travel on Citybus buses everyday and frankly the drivers attitude and standard of driving sucks big time!

and my 'favourite' has to be

i get city bus every day and their driving stinks, they all need to take driving lesson and learn some manners as well. before anyone comments i do not drive and can only get city bus . they also need to turn up on time some buses do not even turn up making people late for work.

Its not all one way traffic though, there are one or two drivers there (and a couple of passengers too) who put the other side of the argument:

You should all try doing the job, the man made a mistake, he's only a human, not a robot, its a hard job, we put up with all sorts, drunks, violence, spat at, you name it and we get it, and all for £250 per week.

All too often we see bus drivers being treated like dirt. I know that in this country public servants often have to put up with a certain amount of agro from the public they serve, but somehow bus drivers seem to get the worse end, and often very little sympathy from the public when it gets reported. If a bus driver spends twenty minutes sitting in the same traffic jam as everyone else is, its somehow his fault that the bus is late. When the managers of the bus company impose massive fare increases - its the driver who has to take the blame. If he/she makes any attempt to detract the blame to the management - then the driver is obviusly just being extremely rude (I have seen this myself on a Citybus recently)

The lady above who comments 'all need to take driving lesson and learn some manners as well.' seems to think that all bus drivers are bad. I wonder if she will be telling her bus driver that on Monday morning when she goes to work on the bus?

didbygraham