The Window Seat: Bus drivers should think twice before stranding passengers

some pass ups also occur because people don't stand by the actual stop, or don't make it clear that the bus approaching, is the one they intend to board.

I'm not condoning the bus driver's behavior, but rider's can also do their part.

Passengers with smart phones might want to consider tweeting about such incidents, with the bus numbers & routes, to @Translink - they're quite responsive and the public attention to this sort of thing might help, too.

This happens to me all the time. I absolutely hate it. Every time I send in a complaint, I get some sort of blow off response or no reply at all. The bus drivers in this city must think we ride transit because it's some sort of cute novelty but it isn't. I can barely afford my bus pass let alone a car. So I guess that makes me unimportant in their eyes.

What fool uses the bus? I prefer my BMW or my bike!!

I agree with Teresa. I've tweeted @Translink in response to a similar situation that left me and a handful of passengers stranded as a half-empty bus went by late at night, waiting another 20 minutes. I was pleased with their response...at least it made me feel like it was on record somewhere, and like Teresa says, if everyone does it, it makes it harder for Translink to ignore

I ride a particular route to UBC and back pretty well every day, and for a while the service was just getting horrible - and it was clearly because the drivers on the route just didn't give a shit. They drove when they felt like it, stopped if it suited them, frequently leap-frogged two or even three buses (where a bus leaves passengers standing, the next bus picks them up, then drives past several stops to catch up to the first bus, who stops at a few stops to let the other bus pass, etc.) This of course creates chaos with the service, as passengers can find themselves waiting for thirty or forty minutes for a bus that's supposed to have a ten-minute frequency.
I wrote letters of complaint, complete with bus numbers, and could have supplied photos of three buses sitting at a Canada Line station that were supposed to be ten minutes apart! The service improved noticeably within a couple of days, so if you're being jerked around by drivers, don't hesitate to make a noise about it.
On that subject, my most jaw-dropping experience was a daily commute a few years ago with a driver who talked - in fact shouted - on his cell most of the way down Granville from 16th to 49th Ave, regularly blowing by waiting passengers, running red lights, and forgetting to stop when people wanted OFF the bus, let alone on it! I'm pro-union in every way, but these guys need to be reported, so do it. Translink and Coast Mountain don't need them, and neither do passengers.

Hong Kong's bus service runs every 2-3 minutes on some major routes, very few people own cars due to the high cost of parking so everyone uses public transport. The bus companies actually make money.
If Vancouver had a reliable, frequent schedule of busses, more Vancouver'ites would be tempted to use the bus and leave the car at home. More busses = more passengers = more money for the bus companies...

...then of course there's the idea of taking all this out of the hands of bus companies and making our buses a public service once again, like they always should have been. That way, routes with few passengers won't get screwed for service (because there's no money in it), routes where a lot of people are likely to cadge rides won't get screwed for service (because there's no money in it), and the government can be held to account, not some private corporation who has secret meetings, treats fare evasion like it's a menace to society, and places their own profit above public good.

I'm just sayin'.

"An Angus Reid poll" sponsored by the CAW is not biased? Look, I'm sick of the CAW posturing for more money for its drivers to drive empty buses all night.

Go out tonight, how many buses are full or even slightly full? TransLink can do a much better job of bus scheduling to avoid pass ups but it would reduce its funding and that isn't what it wants.

To GOT:

I am a bus driver in Vancouver and I'd like to let you know something about this "leap frogging" you're talking about.

Sometimes buses get behind schedule (yep it's true!). Sometimes it's because of passenger loads and once you get behind you won't generally catch up. Being behind schedule only creates more loads at each stop (as you pick up people that wouldn't have been there if you were on time). You can get behind schedule enough that the next bus catches up to you (which didn't pick many people up since you're doing all the work). When this happens the full bus will skip a stop if possible and allow the 2nd bus to pick up. This lets the full bus make up some time. If possible, the 2nd bus will pass the 1st bus and make the rest of the pick ups for the route. This gives the first bus a chance at getting back on time. It doesn't always work as there's always people wanting to get off the bus, traffic lights, pedestrians, etc that slow you down.

You may think the full bus should stop and pick you up as it's first, but that isn't really reasonable. The driver of the full bus wants to get to the end of the line, use the washroom and get back out there and hopefully be on time for people travelling the other direction. Skipping the stops and allowing the 2nd bus to do the pick ups can make this happen. You're already late, and that's terrible but why should the line be behind the whole day and night? It only makes sense to allow the 2nd bus to do some of the pick ups. Contrary to popular belief, we do not get lots of time at the end of the line. Quite often I get to the end of the line and am already late for my next departure. Any tricks to get back on time, including "leap frogging" will be used.

Can't speak for everyone but I never intentionally strand passengers. I have had people run toward the bus at the last second who were standing behind the bus shelter, facing away from the bus, walking down the sidewalk not looking towards me at all. I don't make up my mind about a bus stop the second I get there. I'm scanning the road well before I get there. I will gladly stop for you, just please look like you want a bus.