Are Manchester's bus drivers grumpy?

[nijinsky's fetlocks]

Not being funny but Cllr. Bayley complaining about people being grumpy is on a par with Peter Andre complaining about the modern trend of the dumbing down of British television.

An irony that wasn't lost on me either.
It's nice to see our elected representatives getting involved with the really important issues that impact upon the lives of their constituents.
Ignore insignificant trivia like a chronic lack of local authority housing, city centre shops closing because of extortionate rates, underfunding of civic amenities and local libraries closing left, right and centre - let's tackle the big problems first.
What life and death issue will this champion of the downtrodden tackle next - 'Tram Drivers - Are They Telling Enough Jokes?'

 

[scotty123]

I couldn't care less if they smiled or not, they could turn up and drive the bus dressed as the Grinch or Shrek or with a GPC face mask on for all i care, all we want in Urmston is the few buses that service us arrive on time....which they usually do...and get us to where we want to go as the train line from Liverpool to Manc stopping at Urmston is getting a bit dodgy in this inclement weather

 

[bluestevei]

http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/bus-drivers-told-cheer-up-6449359

Bus drivers told to cheer up after claims they're too grumpy

Councillor Noel Bailey, a committee member who catches a First Group bus to work daily from his Whitefield home, said more needs to be done to improve the attitude of some drivers.

Bus drivers are being told to cheer up behind the wheel after transport chiefs said they were too grumpy.

Cllr Noel Bayley, who sits on the Transport for Greater Manchester committee, said the attitude of drivers is one of the biggest complaints he hears.

He said: “I ask people the same question – what two things would you change about the buses. They say reliability and driver attitude.

“Those are the things stopping people getting on the buses.”

Cllr Bayley, who travels to work daily by a First bus route from his home in Whitefield, added: “When I get on the bus and I say to the driver 'why are you late?', I don't expect to be greeted with either a grumpy driver who insults you or be told I will stop the bus and you can get off.

“It's great the bus companies have got their fares down but the two remaining issues are punctuality, reliability, and driver attitude.

“I think there has needed to be a change of culture.”

Cllr Bayley, a Labour councillor for St Mary's ward on Bury council, spoke out during a Transport for Greater Manchester committee hearing.

A First Group spokesman told councillors they were working on customer service.

He added: "We've got more punctual bus drivers driven by less grumpy drivers.”

The latest survey from PassengerFocus showed satisfaction at drivers' attitudes to be rated 62 per cent – four per cent down on the previous year, but a First spokesman said their figures from April to September 2013 show complaint levels have dropped by 20 per cent.

He said their 1,700 Greater Manchester drivers undergo rigorous training – with innovative courses run in conjunction with RNIB and cyclists. At the Bury depot, they have a scheme where once a month bosses make early morning tea and toast to send drivers on their way.

Driver Rachael Walker, 24, based at Bury, said: "I'm quite a happy person so I'm a happy driver. In every job you are going to get people who are grumpy. I think drivers can be perceived to be more grumpy than they are - some are probably just shy and misunderstood."

Paul Turner, Business Development Director for First, said: "There is still more work for us to do in this respect and we will continue to work with our partners and the local communities to develop new and innovative training methods for our staff."

Christopher Bowles, managing director of Stagecoach Manchester, said staff training was ongoing, adding: “"Customer service is at the forefront of Stagecoach Manchester's approach to running our services. Drivers meet more than 700 customers in a typical shift and we will continually strive to make sure we look after each and every one of them in the best way we can."

A spokeswoman for Arriva Manchester said: “Arriva is committed to delivering a quality service to all our customers. All our drivers take part in training – which includes customer care within the training programme. We welcome customer feedback and would encourage our customers to contact us directly if they have any comments – good or bad – about the service we provide.”

As a bus driver i can safely say this is total horsehit, if you want happier and more punctual drivers the answers lies much further up the food chain i am afraid, also i can guarantee he doesn't get insults or told to get off the bus, so he is also probably a liar as well

im not having a go at bus drivers, but it has been reported on more then once in the papers that Passengers have been told to get off for stupid things like not having the right change, been short by a penny or two, but it never seems to be people who are knobs on buses

 

[BWTAC]

I think they are perfectly entitled to be grumpy given having to deal with the kind of folk who frequent public transport, they're not called bus wankers for nothing.

 

[nijinsky's fetlocks]

I couldn't care less if they smiled or not, they could turn up and drive the bus dressed as the Grinch or Shrek or with a GPC face mask on for all i care, all we want in Urmston is the few buses that service us arrive on time....which they usually do...and get us to where we want to go as the train line from Liverpool to Manc stopping at Urmston is getting a bit dodgy in this inclement weather

It's utterly fucking ludicrous mate.
They have to tolerate utter arseholes getting on and off, total arseholes on busy roads and all for a piss poor wage.
Now seemingly they are expected to grin like fucking baboons on Prozac at their happy lot in life.
If I had to do the job, I'd be self-harming every other stop, and throwing fuckers off left, right and centre.
If they get you where you're going without killing you, then job done.
What next - a fucking big sticker on the back of the bus with HOW'S MY SMILING? on it?

 

[scotty123]

Isint that the same Noel Bayley who is a big blue and used to post on here ?
Also did a fanzine ?

Yes that's him, BTH. Can't see what he's whining at tbh. They're there to take you somewhere, not bolster your mood or engage in conversation with you.
I'd be grumpy too if I had their job.

Noel is always in Mother Macs on matchdays he is always pleasent and has a good laugh with everybody he knows he often has a chat with me and our lot as we have known him for years, he as never struck me as a grumpy fucker but did have a whinge and took his trade elsewhere over Christmas as he said it was too packed and couldn't get served, nice bloke though

 

[tidyman]

im not having a go at bus drivers, but it has been reported on more then once in the papers that Passengers have been told to get off for STUPID THINGS LIKE NOT HAVING THE RIGHT CHANGE, been short by a penny or two, but it never seems to be people who are knobs on buses

To be fair, I regularly get the first bus at five a.m. from my way into town and the same two people get on every day with a £20 note, knowing the driver was unlikely to have change and hoping they would get a free ride.

The drivers obviously cottoned on they were taking the piss and several times fucked them off.

Now they still claim they only have a score but if the driver tells them to fuck off, they dig deep and miraculously find they've got some change after all.

 

[union city blue]

Firstly, let me declare an interest. I know Noel, he's a mate.

But I think a few posters on here are unreasonably setting him up to poke fun at over what is the secondary issue here.

It's clear from reading the article that his main complaint about the buses is the complete unreliability of the service and lack of punctuality. All bus services publish timetables and it is incredibly frustrating when they are late or - very often - don't turn up at all.

That is clearly Noel's main complaint, and that issue - an unreliable bus service - is a perfectly reasonable issue for an elected local councillor to be raising.

Unfortunately the issue most people have focused on in his thread is the secondary issue: that when some drivers are asked why their service is so late they are, on occasion, grumpy.

Noel is well known amongst City fans. He used to edit a fanzine and I think there's probably more than a whiff of the fallout from what came to be known as 'The Fanzine Wars' in some of the comments aimed at him on this thread.

The issue here is not grumpy bus drivers.

The issue is the shoddy service being delivered by a private company who are contracted to provide a public service. Personally, I like to see my local councillors challenging poor and unreliable services being delivered by private companies that make huge profits funded by local people.

 

[BrianW]

The issue is the shoddy service being delivered by a private company who are contracted to provide a public service. Personally, I like to see my local councillors challenging poor and unreliable services being delivered by private companies that make huge profits funded by local people.

Hear hear! Bring back Bury Corporation buses which were always reliable, and whose staff could be relied on to provide songs and sketches to relieve the tedium of a long journey to Walmersley or Stopes. Plus, they usually made a profit which helped keep the rates down.

 

[BigJimLittleJim]

Firstly, let me declare an interest. I know Noel, he's a mate.

But I think a few posters on here are unreasonably setting him up to poke fun at over what is the secondary issue here.

It's clear from reading the article that his main complaint about the buses is the complete unreliability of the service and lack of punctuality. All bus services publish timetables and it is incredibly frustrating when they are late or - very often - don't turn up at all.

That is clearly Noel's main complaint, and that issue - an unreliable bus service - is a perfectly reasonable issue for an elected local councillor to be raising.

Unfortunately the issue most people have focused on in his thread is the secondary issue: that when some drivers are asked why their service is so late they are, on occasion, grumpy.

Noel is well known amongst City fans. He used to edit a fanzine and I think there's probably more than a whiff of the fallout from what came to be known as 'The Fanzine Wars' in some of the comments aimed at him on this thread.

The issue here is not grumpy bus drivers.

The issue is the shoddy service being delivered by a private company who are contracted to provide a public service. Personally, I like to see my local councillors challenging poor and unreliable services being delivered by private companies that make huge profits funded by local people.

I fear I have to call bollocks at this point sir, the newspaper article is all about the grumpy attitude - of course they (the MEN) have spun it that way, but that is what we are all having a good old moan about.

Also, I re-read the article and found this gem of a quote -

"It's great the bus companies have got their fares down but the two remaining issues are punctuality, reliability, and driver attitude."

That's a cracker :)