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The Window Seat: Bus drivers should think twice before stranding passengers
Occasional musings on transit from above the traffic.
Stephen Hui
So there I was on the #135 Burrard Station semi-express bus last Tuesday (November 22) at about 9:30 a.m., heading downtown.
Between Nanaimo Street and Main Street, the only stop is at Commercial Drive. Just ahead of me, another #135 blew through the stop, leaving a confused-looking woman frantically waving from the curb. The driver of the bus I was on was in the inside lane and didn’t change lanes to pick her up, although he could have.
He just drove on. At the next light, he caught up to the other #135 and opened his front doors. The other driver opened her window and they yakked a bit. Then my driver wagged a finger at her and said with a smile, as best I can remember: “I saw what you did back there.”
The other driver’s laughing response was that she was in a hurry and, besides, “There was only one person there.”
I’m still berating myself mentally for not intruding into their little tête-à-tête and taking the side of the would-be bus passenger.
I’m aware that schedules get tight and drivers are under pressure to get from X to Y and Z on time. But both of these buses were only half full, and there is no excuse for a pass-up (stranded passenger) like that.
That woman could have been late for an appointment or work or classes at SFU downtown. As a driver, no matter how annoyed you are at being behind schedule, don’t you have any empathy with how she must have felt while watching two buses with plenty of room blow by?
Apparently not.
The drivers’ union, the Canadian Auto Workers, has campaigned for more buses to be added to the system. The CAW has also said, over the years, that Coast Mountain Bus Company figures for pass-ups are nowhere near the actual numbers because of how many go unreported by drivers. (Search “bus pass-ups” on the Straight site for much more on this issue.) But those strandings are supposed to be due to full buses being unable to safely take on any more passengers.
An Angus Reid poll commissioned by the CAW this fall showed that 85 percent of Metro Vancouver voters want improved transit service. CAW Local 111 president Don MacLeod said in an October 6 news release that only 26 percent of Metro Vancouver’s bus runs have service as frequent as every 10 minutes.
“Montreal and Toronto have service every 10 minutes or better on 58 percent of their bus runs,” MacLeod stated in the release.
That is a state of affairs that is, quite simply, scandalous. At minimum, Vancouver’s bus runs should be brought up to 50 percent with 10-minute frequency as soon as possible.
MacLeod figures that Metro Vancouver needs up to 800 buses added to its system to supply the necessary hours of service to approach that level of service.
Pass-ups might make bus riders more vociferous in backing drivers' demands for more buses and higher frequency of service.
But if passengers are being stranded for reasons as trivial as the one I witnessed this week, it’s going to be hard to convince them not to climb back into their cars in the meantime.
I'm not condoning the bus driver's behavior, but rider's can also do their part.
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.
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...
I'm just sayin'.
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.
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.
I don't think the issue is buses being scheduled at Skytrain stations. I can't think of a route that doesn't go near one. It's a matter of making some routes partial routes (and it does happen, just not enough). For example, the 49. In the afternoon, eastbound, it fills up to the max between the Canada Line and Langara college. People get passed up at Main, Fraser, Victoria and some of the smaller stops in between. It can happen bus after bus after bus. What's needed is a bus that starts after Langara, perhaps just in front of the one that does the full route. It will give everyone a chance to get a bus. A similar short routed bus can be used in the morning going westbound, somewhere along the line after Metrotown. Like I said, this is happening now, but there should be more. Just funnelling them to the Skytrain isn't the answer. Strategic start points for the rushes I believe will get some foks moving instead of waiting for a long time.