Bus Driver and Public Transit Nightmares

Have you ever had problems with your bus driver? Or do you have any other "memorable" experiences from using public transit? I've had an ongoing problem with the public transportation service where I live. Read below...


The imprudence of the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority continues to amaze me. Starting sometime in February, I noticed some of my bus drivers using cell phones while driving. At first I thought I was hallucinating, but then I realized that nobody else on the bus was talking. Then I saw the driver holding the phone. There have been two incidents when I could specifically tell that the driver was making a personal call, because both times the different drivers said, “No, I’m at work right now,” to the person on the other end.

In early March I called VTA three separate times to report inappropriate cell phone use. Some of the operators took me seriously, but there was one in particular who tried to explain it away. I was told that, if the radio on the bus is not working, drivers are authorized to use their cell phones to communicate with VTA headquarters. Ok fine. But not while driving.

After the middle of March I stopped calling in complaints, but I didn’t stop paying attention. I’ve been in buses with drivers on their phones around fifteen times so far. This morning was another instance, but I was so infuriated that this was continuing I called VTA again. This time I talked to a supervisor!

The supervisor’s name was Paula, and man did she shed some light on the situation. At first I was pleased when she said that VTA is aware of the situation and they are “cracking down” on drivers. I asked for some reassurance that VTA would never allow such a dangerous situation to happen again, and she told me that VTA is doing the best that it can. But, Paula continued by explaining that it is very difficult to prevent the drivers from using their phones. The solution she gave was this: keep calling in to report bus drivers who use their phone while driving. Wait. Let me get this straight. VTA is telling me to look out for the safety of myself, fellow passengers, and other drivers on the road; meanwhile, I have paid to ride on their bus. I asked Paula if VTA frequently receives calls such as mine. She said that they “always” do.

Given the situation, one might wonder why I don’t use an alternate method of transportation. I would love to, but given my situation I have to use VTA several times a week. But the issue here is larger than just me. The irresponsibility of the VTA is placing countless people at risk, whether they are inside the bus or driving in traffic. The Authority claims that citations are issued to drivers who are reported, but it is ineffective and unsafe to use customers as watchdogs. Overall, the Santa Clara VTA has been unapologetic and has only offered excuses in regard to an issue that is too important to ignore.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

I swear to God that a bus driver was reading a newspaper while driving the bus I was on one time. I have no idea how this was possible, yet it's true.

This had lead me to believe that all bus drivers are robots.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

You think that's bad? For a band trip, we were going up north. Since the drive was about 8 hours, we had some movie playing on the screen. And guess what? The bus driver was watching it too. I remember we almost crashed on a few occasions, but I was too drunk to actually care...

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And I thought public transport here was bad! The worst thats ever happened to me was that a bus driver decided he didn't feel like stopping at my stop once. Despite the fact that his bus was practically empty and everyone at the stop was waving at him. I drive to Uni now, except for the times I feel like indulging in some alcholic beverages ^_^' in which case every time I try to get the bus home, it's always running at least half an hour late!

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

In Toronto, some guy pulled a gun and shot the bus driver in the face and ran off. Luckily, the driver didn't lose his sight. And in Ottawa, there were a few bomb scares . . . I think someone taped a suitcase onto the bus I was riding . . . And yes, there are tons of bus drivers here who use cell phones for personal calls.

I was speaking idiomatically.

Being a college student with no car, I depend on the bus system to get me where I want to go.

So . . . stories of the shuttle system.

On the circular route on campus (the Forty Acres), there happened to be this one man, a jolly fellow, who would often drive at incredible speeds to make sure that the bus runs as frequently as it is supposed to according to the signs. Mind you, there was this one stretch of road that is badly paved, so whenever he belts down the thing at 30 MPH, it's hair raising and the people inside can get pretty jostled. I often stand in that bus, so I resort to taking a stance akin to "surfing" the bus down the street.

That same driver was also prone to striking conversation with the passengers, which technically is not allowed either way, but he manages to keep his attention, I think, while doing so. One day, this observant girl (she's my age I guess, but the way she acted is all "girl") called upon his errant behavior. Of course, she managed to sound like a total ass about it and it prompted an exchange of words between me and her because it was me who the driver was talking to. Once her stop came up, she asked for the bus number and threatened to call the city metro to have him fired. I didn't see the man since.

Nowadays, I take the shuttle from my apartment to campus, which is one of the more distant routes, which in turn means it is one of the more infrequent and unreliable routes also. Gave me a lot of grief and a lot of late classes. It gets really bad at evening rush hour when everyone wants to go home, so you see about 60 people crowiding the only stop on campus waiting for who knows how long for the bus to come and then cram into the vehicle, amazingly able to hold 60 people sitting and standing. The longest I've waited for the bus was 45 minutes, during which there should have been 3 buses that should have stopped by then.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

I live in NYC, so public transport is practically ingrained into my very being. I don't know anyone who's had serious problems with bus drivers and the like (though I'm sure it's happened), but my friend did have one problem on the bus. He was sitting on the bus, and this very overweight woman was standing up to get off. The bus came to a sudden stop, and this woman loses her balance. Rather than grabbing one of the handles or poles designed to stabilize people, she grabs my friend's coat, and tears a huge hole in it. She then runs (as fast as a fat woman can) off the bus, and hurries off before he can do anything about it. So my friend now has a big hole in his winter jacket.

The only "incident" I've had on the subway in recent memory was when I saw a homeless man sleeping while listening to an MP3 player, which I thought was pretty funny.

FELIPE NO

I was kicked off of a Montreal bus for being English. Thankfully, I haven't seen that driver again since. He probably lost his job for giving people attitude like that.

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My friend Cait and I recently had a really bad experience with the bus system.

My friend Cait and I were waiting at the bus stop, she had seen me on the street so she was keeping me company until my bus came. The bus was about to pull up so I gave her a quick hug before it did. Anyway I got on the bus and sat down. When I got off the bus at University my cell-phone rang, it was Cait in tears saying the bus driver gave her the finger as we pulled away from the stop, I was finding a seat so I missed it. I remembered though she was wearing a pair of rainbow gloves though, so she thought that could've been the reason, but really who cares what the reason was he gave her the finger!! She wrote an email to transit and never got a response.

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I fucking hate our bus system here.

First off I don't like sitting where hundreds of people sit each day. I feel disgusted knowing I am sitting and touching everyone's flith on a daily basis.

Also, I've once or twice sat in wet seats. What bothers me is that SOMEONE on the bust must know the seat is wet but they don't say a thing as you choose that seat. Sometimes the seat is damp JUST ENOUGH so that you don't really know your pants are getting wet at first. At that point, you feel too embarassed to get up.

Perhaps it's not the concept of wet seats so much as it is the mystery of what made it wet. Did someone urinate here? Or did they merely spill a soda?

I've known buses to come too late and too early so much that scheduling is pointless.

I hate when I sit within close proximity of a mentally defective person.

I remember when there were homeless people quite obviously "camping out" at bus stops, asking for cigarettes. It became fairly obvious when they didn't even get on the bus when it came. Ugh. Now it's not like my bus stops are crowded with people; half the time I'm alone when I get on the bus. It becomes very awkward to deal with a hobo when it's one-on-one.

All and all, people suck ass, which is why public transportation is the pits.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Not really the fault of the bus driver - but after the subway stopped running, a friend of mine puked in the back corner of the bus that replaces the subway - as soon as the driver smelt it, he immediatly stopped the bus - and ordered everybody off :P

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

I've had some insane Bus Drivers, the ones that go full speed over the speed bumps so all the old people tend to fall out of their seats. To be honest I think that benefits me in a way because it's fun to watch, yes i'm a cold bitch. I remember one that didn't know the route so kept making the wrong turns.

I also remember when I was in school and didn't have a pass so payed in coins and I forgot to put like a quid in which is most of the fare. So I start arguing with the bus driver saying IT IS IN THERE, it's probably behind the other coins. He let me on and said something about my attitude and then when I sat down I realised I had the pound in my pocket still. Well I was a good girl and put it in the thing when I got off and apologised and he was cool about it. Nice little story for ya there.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

I don't take the bus to university, but I can recall some terrible experiences during middle school. One substitute driver wasn't aware of where our school was located, and she was about to merge onto the freeway to another city about 45 minutes away.

I was speaking idiomatically.

I LOATHE the bus, but I HAVE to take it... no car

Today some creepy guy came up and was like "Where's my money?" and then proceeded to act like it was a joke. I don't know this motherfucker. All I said to him was "I didn't think it was funny" and went across the street to the other bus stop. Luckily he got on a different bus then what I wanted. I think the dude may have been on somethin... looked like a transient and fit the typical description: Old (40s) white guy with ponytail, truckers hat and dirty clothes.

On a more funny note, sometimes in the morning there will be this vietnamese guy who comes on and just talks to people (Anyone it seems that is close by him) in somewhat broken english (Meaning he's got a basic grasp at best) and is obnoxiously loud, but he seems harmless otherwise. I think he's just an immigrant who doesn't know US social norms. I've dubbed him "Vietnam Guy".
If you're trying to visualize him, I suppose he looks a bit like a very young Chow Yun Fat, only uglier.

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Originally Posted by Rydia

I don't take the bus to university, but I can recall some terrible experiences during middle school. One substitute driver wasn't aware of where our school was located, and she was about to merge onto the freeway to another city about 45 minutes away.

This is a win. Late to school with a legimitate reason = awesome.

FELIPE NO

My Kindergarten bus driver hated children, and constantly ridiculed us, and told us horror stories about children dying in freak accidents on school buses. He didn't last the year.

- WraithTwo -

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

All of the stories you guys have are a common occurance here in México. Stupid and uneducated drivers, full-as-hell buses, overpowering stenchs, annoying people... You name it, we got it here. The worst of all of this is that we've grown to be accustomed to all those abuses, so complaining about them usually gets you a scowl from other passengers. Gotta love public transport!

Worst thing that ever happened to me was when the driver closed one of the doors on me. Since there was a lot of people, he couldn't see me and just accelerated. I was stuck on the door for about 4 blocks until he saw me. I ended up swearing at him and kicking the bus.

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My worst experiences were not bad at all compared to the stories I've read here. Late/early buses were constant. I don't understand why they have a schedule sometimes. The other problems were mostly with passengers being loud, obnoxious, smelly, or just plain scary. oO; I hate to be touched by people except my husband and son......ESPECIALLY strangers. *shiver*

There's nowhere I can't reach.

I'm all about the public transportation since I don't drive. In high school, I always took the DC Metro, for school and work. 95% of the time I'd say it was a positive experience. Since I live down the green line, it's usually a bit crowded since that's the line all the members of the Democratic Republic of Congo take.

At school, moreso the last 2 years living in an apartment, I take the shuttle a couple times every day to campus. It's probably about 60% on time (not to mention the weirdest schedule ever), so it's a pain the ass in terms of timing. I put up with it though. Just a few more weeks.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

I had a nightmarish experience on the middle school bus. My house was served by one of the "black buses", even though we were really out of the way (I'm not trying to be racist, but I was literally one of about 5 non-black people on the bus). Usually we had a tough-as-nails old lady as our bus driver, so the kids were usually tame.

Well, one day we had a substitute, a really nice young woman. As soon as the bus left the school lot to take us home, the black kids went insane. They started cussing freely and started stalking up and down the aisles. The driver couldn't get them under control so she threatened to turn the bus around and go back to school. The kids started cussing at her directly and she drove on really slowly. I guess it was too much, because soon we were back at the school after more than an hour on the road. The driver ran off the bus and up to the school's front doors, but apparantely only a few custodians were in there. The black kids got off the bus and roamed freely while the driver paced in front of the doors with a cell phone. Then my dad drove up... he had been worried that the bus never showed at our house. Well, the black kids started heckling us too and shouting slurs like "white cracker" as we drove off.

Not surprisingly, that was my last day on a public school bus.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

My worst bus travel incident was by no means the fault of the driver. At least not the initial actions leading into it anyway... it's a bit blurry on who's to blame for the events that followed though...
I was on a band trip going to Arizona, and there we were driving through the desert and the bus just broke down. So the band director and the bus driver flag down one of the other buses and run off with it to go get help, just leaving all of us and a few poor band parents. Eight hours go by, and no one comes back for us. At around midnight we start making ourselves comfortable, some sleeping on the bus, others outside. Personally I found outside to be comfortable. The next morning it finally came >.>

If nothing else it was an interesting adventure.

I was speaking idiomatically.

The drivers around here ALWAYS talk on the phone. I mean, they have long so-called "meaningful" conversations, too. I've missed stops because of them. They have a bad habit of overshooting a stop when they're on the phone.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

I've honestly never had any horrible experiences with the University's Cambus system, though they always run late. The worst thing I can think of is that a bus drove right through a stop that I was waiting at, while it was raining no less. ._.

The service completely shuts down for the day if nasty weather hits, too, as a few thousand (mostly drunken) people found out last night. I can't really blame them for shutting down in that particular instance, though...nasty stuff.

speaking of which, their maintenance garage is no more thanks to that...that'll probably make the service even less reliable now. ;_;

FELIPE NO

Originally Posted by horseman85

In Toronto, some guy pulled a gun and shot the bus driver in the face and ran off. Luckily, the driver didn't lose his sight. And in Ottawa, there were a few bomb scares . . . I think someone taped a suitcase onto the bus I was riding . . . And yes, there are tons of bus drivers here who use cell phones for personal calls.

Wow, that's pretty scary! Now did you actually go through all this, or are these just events that you heard about?

I think that the worst thing that happned on a bus I was on, aside from people lighting matches and shouting threats, was a stink bomb. And Crossroads on TV.

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Originally Posted by Locke

Not really the fault of the bus driver - but after the subway stopped running, a friend of mine puked in the back corner of the bus that replaces the subway - as soon as the driver smelt it, he immediatly stopped the bus - and ordered everybody off :P

That really has nothing to do with the bus. So your friend puked. Big whoop.

Originally Posted by a_darknation

On a more funny note, sometimes in the morning there will be this vietnamese guy who comes on and just talks to people (Anyone it seems that is close by him) in somewhat broken english (Meaning he's got a basic grasp at best) and is obnoxiously loud, but he seems harmless otherwise. I think he's just an immigrant who doesn't know US social norms. I've dubbed him "Vietnam Guy".
If you're trying to visualize him, I suppose he looks a bit like a very young Chow Yun Fat, only uglier.

Might be mentally challenged. There's an indian guy I used to run into on the bus often. Sometimes people would get so annoyed with him that they'd tell him outright to shut up. He never really knew how to take a hint, and so when he was told to shut up, he'd keep asking "Why, aren't you my friend?" for the rest of the ride. On the rare occasion that someone could get him to shut up and behave, he'd have ask if he was behaving well enough every five or ten minutes. Such a nuisance.

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