Day 4: When Bus Drivers Do Nothing
The worst part of my journey
So it’s already day four of my home to university challenge, and while I haven’t met as many new faces as I had hoped I would however, I’ve come across some interesting issues that arise on London transport everyday. Today’s topic, when bus drivers do nothing.
Today I travelled to Hounslow East tube station via the 111 bus heading towards Heathrow airport. Travelling on a Heathrow bound bus during peak hours is by no means an enjoyable experience as it’s extremely busy, swarming of airport employees and school children. With limited seating available, I was soon forced to sit next to a man who had obviously been drinking. I found this extremely frustrating as it meant the smell from this man’s clothes would eventually rub off on to mine. Adding to the annoyance is that this happens almost every week.
I pay around £70 a month for my travel card. For a student working part-time hours that’s a big hit which is why it irritates me to see bus drivers constantly letting on passengers that have “forgot their Oyster card” or “haven’t got enough change”. Granted even I’ve had to use these excuses before when trying to catch a bus but when you start seeing it every day it becomes really frustrating.
There’s a woman who travels on the same bus as me twice a week when she heads to work. Her name is Debbie. Like me, she is constantly frustrated by the decisions of bus drivers on her way to Heathrow Terminal 4 every day. “As a security officer at Heathrow Airport my hygiene and uniform are essential. It’s frustrating when a driver constantly lets incompetent passengers onboard who have bad hygiene and do not pay. I’ve complained many times about this as I’m fed up of my uniform smelling when I get to work.” For more of what Debbie said listen to the audio clip above.
It’s not just the problem of hygiene that thousands of bus passengers in London are facing. Intimidating youths playing music at the back, men and women that insist on giving their bag a seat of its own and many more. Has bus travel in London deteriorated to such a point where we need to bring back conductors in order to control the service? London mayor Boris Johnson is planning on bringing back conductors for his new Routemaster buses that will operate in central London, but the general response to bringing back conductors full time is that the conductors will have too little to do and will not last very long. If it means everyone has to pay, and travelling on buses is made a safer experience, surely then conductors should be employed across London buses.
This is in no way a personal attack on bus drivers themselves, but rather a question of their policies. It might be easier for them to avoid conflict by letting a passenger who is being abusive on board, but surely something has to be done to stop the thousands of people who are paying the rising costs of travel from feeling ripped off. Let me know what you think, are bus drivers doing enough, or is it time to bring back bus conductors full-time?
Related articles
- New threat to London cyclists as minicabs told to invade bus lanes (bikebiz.com)
- Boris Johnson’s new Routemaster will have conductors all day (telegraph.co.uk)
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