In Front of the Yellow Line

Open Communication

By Shawn Wells

Guy getting on my bus: “Do you go past the Epcor tower?”

Me: ”No.”

Guy: “How about the Casino?”

Me: “You mean the Casino right across the street for the Epcor tower?”

Guy: “Yeah, yeah! That’s the one… oh…”

They say that communication is the key to any good relationship. If this is a statement that is true for a marriage, shouldn’t it also work for temporary relationships like that of a bus driver/ passenger relationship? As a bus driver (and the person that brought up this argument to begin with) I say Yes, yes it is.

For the most part, people seem to be afraid to talk to the driver of their bus. I’m here to tell you, you don’t need to be. The majority of us are very approachable. We are in a customer service position after all.  And I’ll let you in on a bit of a secret, you’re more likely to get things done if you just open a dialogue. Look at it this way, if you are in a restaurant and you want your dressing on the side, you have to ask. It’s the same thing on a bus if you want a specific stop or if you aren’t entirely sure where you’re going. Ask. There are no dumb questions. Well, there are but I will seldom point out when you ask one. However, for a guy like in my opening example, I subtly will.

I like to keep an open line of communication on my bus. I am one of those drivers who isn’t shy about making an announcement, if I feel it’s necessary. The biggest thing that I will address the bus for is if there is something special about my route. What I mean by this is if I’m driving an express route, for example. So I will announce “Hello everyone! Just as a heads up to anyone that has never taken this bus before, I go into express service as of my next stop…” and then announce the specifics of what that means. (Some express routes still have designated stops in the express area) I like to keep people informed so there isn’t a chance for someone to say “Well, I didn’t know.” You do know now. I’m taking ignorance out of the equation. The other thing that may be special about my route is if I’m only making a partial trip. When I set my destination sign on the front of my bus, I list the final destination. So, even though I may go through downtown and past a couple of major landmarks like colleges or malls, I only list the end location. But sometimes, to fill the required needs for the city, I will only need to do part of the route. And people tend not to pay attention to what the destination sign says.  In this case, I actually announce “Before I leave.... In case you didn’t pay close attention to the destination sign on the front of my bus, on this particular trip, I only go as far as (point A). If you’re looking for (point B, C or D) you are on the wrong bus and will want the next one instead.” Amazingly, I often still have to kick people off when I get to “Point A”, but hey… at least I tried.

Regularly, I will get people on my bus that are new to town, or just visiting, or just don’t know the city very well. These people are usually not afraid to ask their questions. “Do you go past (such and such)?”  “Can you let me know when you get to (some specific place)?” Quite often (and this shows the age that we now live in) I will have someone stick their phone in front of my face and show me a text from a friend or a Googled address. All of these questions all usually end with the same request… “Can you let me know when to get off?” As their diver, I am more than happy to tell them when I get to their stop. But I’m human and on occasion have forgotten. Especially, for some reason,  in the cases where they are asking for the best place to transfer to a different bus. I’ll tell you right now though, if I forget to tell people when to get off, the number one reason is because people make their request and then go sit at the very back of the bus. I have a lot of things on my mind and like a string tied around my finger, it helps if you stay near the front as a constant reminder.    

In past posts, I’ve mentioned when someone rings the stop request bell too soon, by accident, all I ask is for you to acknowledge and own up to to your mistake. “Oops sorry… next one!” Something like that. But it also goes the other way too. If I zoned out or didn’t see your stop, say something. I also respect and appreciate the people who know their physical limitations. I pride myself in being a fairly smooth driver and I try to give people long enough to get to the nearest open seat before I start driving. But some people just can’t physically handle walking against that momentum. Although I can usually spot these people, some of them will actually specifically ask me to wait for them to sit. If you ask, I will listen. Same if you feel you require the ramp, or you need me to kneel the bus. No problem. Don’t push your limitations. Ask.

Some people will ask to be let off somewhere that isn’t a designated stop. Sometimes I can, depending on the situation. If I can do it safely and it doesn’t interfere with the flow of my route, sure. Why not? I’m willing to. But you’ll never know if you don’t ask. Or are you a little short on change? Don’t try to hide it. You’re 30 cents short? Ok. Thanks for letting me know. Pay extra next time. I’m not going to lose sleep over a few dimes.

Non-verbal communication is just as important. Some roads that I drive are in areas that will have a dozen different routes going past the same stops. To save us the time of having to slow down at each stop, if you don’t want my bus, give me a signal. Shake your head, wave me past, make a cut signal with your hands. Something. We drivers appreciate it. Same if you’re running for the bus. Give me a wave. Communicating with me makes my day run smoother. Anyone who waves me past gets a wave from me in return. I appreciate these people. However, I also find it funny when people get so visibly irritated when they are trying to wave me past and I pull into the stop anyway because someone rang my bell. With their arms they are practically screaming at me to keep moving. They forget that they aren’t the only people I service.

Now, I know not everyone wants to sit and talk to the driver. That’s fine. No hard feelings. But you also don’t have to act like I’m invisible. If I say good morning as you get on, social politeness would see you saying something back (not just walking past… yes this happens.) It’s also appreciated when you say Thank-you as you get off the bus. Surprisingly, I’ve noticed that teenagers as a whole are the best for saying thanks. If I drive a school special, on average, half of the kids getting off say something. And while on the subject of me being invisible, in all the time that I’ve spent driving a bus, I have sneezed hundreds of times. In all that time, I’ve had ONE person ever say “Bless you.” I actually say bless you almost every time I hear someone sneeze on my bus. But in return, only one. Don’t be afraid to say something to us. We like thank yous. We like bless yous. I actually told that one girl (who I must say would’ve been the last person I would ever expect a “bless you” from… she didn’t look the type) that I truly appreciated it and that she was the only person to ever say that to me. Which is saying a lot considering I sometimes have Mormon missionaries on my bus. Instead it takes the teenage girl with the pink hair and punk clothing to be the first.

One final note on communication. If you go to McDonald’s and get exemplary service, how often do you pull a manager aside and tell them what a great job their employee is doing? Most people never do (I know what I’m talking about… in a past life, I was a McManager) But have a bad experience and the same customer will tell anyone who’ll listen. The same is true on the bus. Have a bad experience and people will call in a complaint. I had one woman who was venting about another driver tell me she was going to call the Mayor’s office. But, very few people think to call in a compliment. If you have a good experience, call in. It makes us feel good. I have three commendations myself, no complaints, and every one felt great. So, if you ride with me and like my service, call in and say I did a great job. My name is Shawn.

However, if you thought I did a poor job and pissed you off in some way… my name is Mark.

From in front of the yellow line, that’s how I see it.