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In praise of bus drivers
• I AM confused by Ellen Luby’s complaints about the No 24 bus (Letters, November 6). She appears to think the drivers are on some bonus for the number of passengers they pick up.
As a former London bus driver I can assure her that no driver is on any bonus for filling their bus up.
There are rules on how many people are allowed to stand on a bus and this is there for the safety of passengers. However, most bus drivers (but not all) choose to ignore that rule so that they can pick up all the passengers at a bus stop. I used to do this myself, especially in the cold and wet.
Ms Luby says that there was “...no windows open and mobile phones were going off... everywhere.”
You cannot blame the driver or bus company for windows not being open, as the passengers could have opened them. As for mobile phones, again, that is down to the passengers not the driver.
Ms Luby argues that the bus was crammed full and then complains the bus went past a stop. This is just an idea but maybe it did that because it was crammed full and the driver could not get any more passengers on.
I would love to see our transport system renationalised, as it is a public service and was never expected to run at a profit. However, those days are long gone in the UK and the private sector is what we have got.
I believe Ms Luby should have praised the bus driver for showing a caring attitude towards passengers, not accuse him or her of being on some fictional bonus.
DF Gowers
Broxwood Way, NW8 |
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