Dublin Bus

Re: DB

I've seen drivers printing something off when finishing a shift and assumed that it was some sort of tally for when they handed the ticket machine back in at the depot.

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I assumed the same, especially since drivers seem to print off the same thing to hand to an inspector when they get on to check tickets.

DB

afaik they print off starting-time and a code and all the other bumph about the vehicle when they start the shift, and a list of tickets issued between that and "sign-off".

Must say posters here have a low opinion of DB drivers as cunning thieving work-shy fiends My experience is they're "diamonds":tallchappy I've seen DB drivers go to extraordinary lengths to help passengers with problems/directions/lost property. On one occasion a driver wrote me out a "free pass" after my purse containing Rambler ticket, credit cards money, the aul'Ryanair ticket etc. was stolen, so I could get home quickly to cancel everything.

On the wider subject of DB "partial privatisation" I don't think the city will find some favourite routes go to privileged parts of the network. Much more likely all servers will end up serving all routes........but badly! Here (Colchester) there are four servers; tickets from one cannot be used on any of the others. All operate the "Elderly" ticket discount differently (probably something the gvt. haven't even THOUGHT about as far as OAP pass/multiple servers in Dublin is concerned); no schedule recognises the existence of the others - so a convoy of one-of-each (server) arrives at a rural bus-stop all together, with nothing for another hour. Conditions for drivers are worse, most working clapped-out vehicles with filthy windows, non-functioning windscreen-wipers, poor pay and conditions. Maintenance quality for vehicles drops and safety issues are skimped - of course! The whole thing ends up in poor morale, poor services.........and perforce - more cars on the road as people have to get to work somehow!

Hope someone gets wise before the event as it is the old and the less-well-off who will suffer from the selling-off of the transport system.......which is what this is!

Angels!

I've seen DB drivers go to extraordinary lengths to help passengers with problems/directions/lost property.


Marie

I've seen a 35+ woman, well dressed getting on bus (seen her pay for tickets) with two young children (baby and 3yr old) fold up push chair, shopping bags. Inspector gets on and she starts searching bags, pockets etc while juggling children, can't find tickets, inspector stopps bus to throw her off. I mention seen her buy ticket, she drops baby on floor (really), no tickets to be found, and he put her and kids off bus.

It happened.

Re: Angels!

My experience is they're "diamonds"

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My experience is that there are good ones and bad ones. Just like people in all walks of life really.

I agree 0! Dublin bus-drivers' employment includes encountering all manner of problems - from "difficult" sometimes abusive passengers to keeping to timetables despite chaotic traffic conditions which have been a feature of the city for a decade.

Like any walk of life, some do it with more patience and courtesy than others. In the case of such public roles, when they perform them well that's taken for granted; if they ever, ever, slip up, they're reviled! They're not angels.......but the "perfect" public voicing itself here demand that they be!

Regarding the inspector throwing a woman with children off the bus because she couldn't produce her ticket, whilst that appears inflexible and heartless the explicit role of inspectors is to ensure the company by-laws are observed. The by-laws are that you retain your ticket for inspection. This bye-law is posted in all buses, printed on every single ticket issued. Either there's a rule or every case is to be treated differently on merit or whim. If every case is treated on merit or whim you don't have "public transport" you have personal service; you don't have a system with bye-laws......you have chaos. An earlier posting bemoaned the fact Dublin didn't have a system comparable to other European capitals. Be assured if an inspector on an Amsterdam tram, or on the French metro or on the tube in the UK(or anywhere you care to name!) encounters a passenger without a valid ticket they have a hefty on-the-spot fine as well as being introduced to the notion of "shanks mare". Perhaps if bye-laws had been strictly adhered to sooner D.B. would not currently be scheduled for dismantling.

changes on buses

TBH, I think they should get rid of the change receipts. I remember getting the trams/buses in Boston 15 years ago-you made suere you had the correct change-if you didn't-tough-no change was give.

change on buses

was on bus yesterday, paid €2 for a €1.45 fare. got upstairs, no change ticket. went back for it and he told me he couldn't issue it once he'd issued a ticket to next passenger. is this true?

Re: change on buses

I can't see how he could possibly remember the change due to a passenger after dealing with 4-5 subsequent passengers.

Re: change on buses

it wasn't a question of remembering rainyday. there was only one other passenger (not 4-5), the driver accepted i'd put €2 in but said he "couldn't" issue the ticket once he'd issued a ticket to another passenger. i've emailed dublin bus and will post the reply

UPDATE

Just had another incident today to prove my original point when I started this thread.

I got onto the 10 at UCD to go into town with my 3 year old. I think this was the first time that I had taken my young lad on the bus, so when I gave the driver €2.50 for the €2.25 fare (for the two of us) and heard the machine turn twice, I inadvertently assumed that he had issued me with a receipt for the change due. But when I got home and checked the receipt, there were the two fare receipts but no receipt for the change - the thieving driver now has it, along with the change from anyone else he conned today.

And another thing - the journey into town cost €2.25, but the journey back was only €2! Why??

Anyone know who, apart from Dublin Bus, that I can lodge a formal complaint with??
:>

Re: UPDATE

Iano, to be honest I would have thought you would have got used to checking by now.

It depends on where you were going to in town, but if it was around St Stephens Green then the inbound and outbound fares can be different because of the different route the buses take inbound and outbound.

My fare in the morning is lower than my fare home in the evening for this reason.

Hmm, the fare home was €2 - this means that you were charged the 1-7 stage fare for the child and the 8-13 fare for you. Driver (or you, if you asked for the fare by amount) may have made an error.

Incidentally, I had always assumed that children under X were free of charge, where X is always one year older than my eldest, but all I see on the Dublin Bus fare page is that the fare is charged for children under 16. *Surely* they have some lower limit ?

z

Re: UPDATE - not all bad.

I have to do a lot of town driving and encounter No. 10 bendibuses frequently.

Bendibus drivers may be pants at counting but they are damn good at driving.

As for fares of Euro 2+ to go to UCD - its far to much. When are the city council going to be made hand over a considerable part of the parking fund to Dublin Bus ?


eDog

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Iano
be fair to the driver
You don't get a change receipt unless you ask for one - that is just the way it works.
The driver doesnt get to keep any excess money - dublin bus just get the surplus.

Zag, I have to ackknowledge 'mea culpa' for not checking - but I was reared to be a little more trusting of people.

Unreg, I assume there is a large hint of sarcasm in your statement about "that is just the way it works". Otherwise why should we get change from any retailer - I never ask for change, because it is due to me - THAT'S the way it works.

And I would not share your confidence about Dublin Bus getting the surplus. The driver has to balance his float at the end of the shift. So, what do you think he does when he finds that his float has a surplus? Do you thinki he says to his boss every day "I have more money than I should have here"? I think not!

I find it hard to believe that you have to ask for your receipt as a policy. A simple call to Dublin Bus should confirm that this is NOT correct.

Iano - I doubt if the driver has access to the cash at all. The big benefit of the 'no change' policy (along with the improved loading time) is to ensure that all the cash goes into a sealed container which is handed over complete at the end of the shift.

For Unreg to say:

"You don't get a change receipt unless you ask for one - that is just the way it works."

is pure nonsense. Dublin Bus drivers are trained to automatically issue change receipts.

Havn't been on a bus for years myself so can't really offer much on this debate but am wondering why the change reciepts have to be redeemed in town. Can they not be used as fare on another bus journey? ie Fare is Euro 1.80, so instead of handing the driver 1.80 hand him 1.60 and a change reciept from a previous journey for 20 cents. Still amounts to exact fare.

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lano

no i wasnt being sarcastic.

fair enough you might not get the bus that often. however i do. and I know that i will have to ask for a change receipt if i want one. The bus driver has enough to be doing without counting all the coins that go in.

I didnt know that drivers were trained to automatically iisue change receipts. If that is the case, then it is something (like opening the centre doors) that doesnt get done in practice.

I think you are being overly harsh on drivers. In my experience bus drivers are some of the best drivers on the roads - they have to be when they are driving something so big and dangerous.

I couldnt say the same for taxi drivers,

Re: .

unreg - maybe it's the bus routes you use or something. I get the bus twice a day every weekday, and a good bit at weekends and I almost always get a refund ticket when warranted. I have maybe had to point out two or three times over a period of years when I didn't get a refund ticket.

I don't know what the official policy about the centre doors is, but again they are often (but less than maybe 40% of the time) opened when needed on the routes I take.

I would doubt very much that there is an official policy not to issue change receipts unless requested.

I even made money on my journey this morning when someone (who got on the stop before mine) left a refund ticket in the machine ahead of me.

z

Counting the coins

"The bus driver has enough to be doing without counting all the coins that go in"

Thanks for the advice Unreg - next time I will leave HIM short!!! :lol