MegaSack DRAW - This year's winner is user - rgwb
We will be in touch
Exact change or no travel on our local buses, and £2.30 to travel 6 miles and it takes over 40 minutes.
Bloke I work with gets a taxi to and from work every day, as he doesn't have a car at the mo'. From work, on the west side of town to his place is approx six miles, takes ten-fifteen minutes and costs £8. There's a bus goes through the estate. It doesn't go to Corsham, though, it goes into Chippenham bus station, around two miles in the wrong direction, then he'd have to catch another bus to take him the now eight miles back home via the scenic route. Total travel time around two hours, and costs £9. Oh, and he starts work at 6am, so it's not certain there's even a bus at that time. Cycling isn't an option for him either. A friend had to move into Bath from Colerne, about seven/eight miles. There is only one bus out in the morning, at 7.30. It gets into Bath at around 8.00am. She starts work at 7.45. Cycling back home at 7-8 in the evening up Bannerdown Hill also isn't an option.
So go to just outside it then.
I've been to Warrington thank you very much. I'll not be going again.
And London is the most hateful, self centred, busy, unpleasant place in Britain.
Good. You won't [b]ever[/b] be coming here then? Great. One less ignorant bigot to worry about then...
Bus drivers revenge, one german car and a bus stop and shelter.
Women never park on a single yellow line.
and another towards the end.
Even decades ago, bus drivers had a bad attitude to giving change!
I recall one occasion when i was refused a ticket because I only had a fiver, but the driver said to go get some change in the shop adjacent to the bus stop. There were loads of people behind me, so I legged it in, bought a packet of mints and legged it out. He watched me running for the bus, but shut the doors as I got there and then drove off, despite saying he'd wait for me (the twunt!)
Bus drivers often used to close the doors and drive off just as you got to the door and after you legged it to get on board. This often happened to me when I was on the way home soon after I was allowed out of my place of work. I often saw bus drivers do this to other customers. These guys were just mean spirited and this must have been one of the few sources of amusement in their pathetic little lives.
In the mornings, I used to get the first bus at 05:45. This was when they bothered to show up, then I would be late for work and have mey wages docked! The journey went round every housing estate in the most convoluted 40 minute route imaginable. In the end I gave up and bought a car (as soon as I had the money). My six mile journey then took 15 minutes and my dignity was restored. If only I had realised back then, that cycling was an option!
These days buses have screens to protect the drivers. It's not surprizing they need these judging by their surly attitude. All they need to do is calm down, slow down and learn how to handle people. Simples!
However you won't ever see me on a bus except in Central London, but i'll always opt for the Tube first.
There's a big stigma attached to using buses; if you have to use one, you have failed!
Surely it can't just be me that's been tempted to push the "emergency engine stop" button on the back of a bus being badly driven by a bellend?
Elfinsafety - Member
A few days ago you said this on a thread about someone being stuck in traffic on his way to Manchester
No problem. Just wish I could be up there too.
different time of the month now is it?
Yeah; to have a drink with WCA. The location isn't important.
I've got nowt against Manchester really, it's just there's nowt that appeals to me; London's got it all and much more. I've heard many folk from Manchester say the same thing. People dream of coming and living in London. I've never ever heard anyone say they dream of living in Manchester.
Sorry, but it's true. London's a far, far greater city. Most folk around the World would agree, and if you're really honest with yourself, you'd agree too. Try to look beyond your jealousy and envy.
Bradford's got more appeal for me than Manchester.
London does indeed have a lot going for it, and I enjoy it a lot, but it doesn't have everything.
Great doorstep riding is what it's missing.
What is it about Bradford that appeals? I am curious!
In defence of bus drivers some are nice. There is a guy on the morning run sometimes who is very camp, wears lots of man-jewellery and gives other bus drivers he passes a big Julian Clary wave its very entertaining and quite makes my morning.
Also in defence - I've seen countless bus drivers in Cardiff wait for people running for busses. They even look in their mirrors to see if anyone is. Once or twice they've waited for me even though I am just walking or running by and not getting on.
Bradford is a fantastic little city. Once one of the wealthiest cities in the World! Centre of the once World-leading textile industry. It has a character that is unique, and sets it apart from most other larger UK cities. It's overshadowed by Leeds, but that's only because Leeds has (unfairly) had significantly more development in recent years. You've got yer Saltaire, town hall, wool exchange and several other great architectural sites. The Bradford Alhambra inspired the building of a palace of the same name, in Granada, Spain. The National Media Museum is a great information and history resource, as well as a good little exhibition space.
Curry.
Bradford fortunately hasn't suffered the same fate as many other cities, and been stripped of it's own character to serve corporate interests. I think it's perfectly positioned to rise once more, as a centre of culture and ideas.
The setting for one of the greatest British films of all time.
Riding from the doorstep? Pisses over Manchester!
Surely it can't just be me that's been tempted to push the "emergency engine stop" button on the back of a bus being badly driven by a bellend?
No, I know of a few people who used to do it regularly. Then they moved the emergency stop buttons behind panels and it became a bit harder.
TJ - it's not a non-issue at all, it' a royal pain in the arse in a modern society. I for one don't carry change about, not more than a few coppers - I've never any need. So the odd occasion I might NEED to grab a bus I have to go get some cash out, go to a shop, but stuff I don't want, then go back to the bus to get it. WTF? Buses always used to carry change, shedloads of it. Maybe in Ed it's all nice and regular and the machines are wonderful (though why they couldnt give change I don't know) but most other places it's not like that.
I rest my case.
SpokesCycles - Member
I think the 1 time I've paid for parking since I lived there for 2 months and then started visiting embra every week was when I got that ticket last week.
You don't commute or work here, you visit rented accomodation with free parking that most can't afford to buy?
Don't need to go as far as a nationwide Oyster card, why not just a chip'n'pin reader on the bus? Or charge to mobile phone bill? I can't see why these aren't perfect micro payment systems.
All those charges that you just KNOW are a little bit extra to catch out the non locals are awful. Wilts CC are masters at adding 5p to parking to make it a pain, so I took to carrying bags of 5p's and guess what? the machine won't accept more than about 25 😀
Coffeeking - waht a load of waffle - if you used busees you would know its a non issue. But you don't
You don't have cash on you ever? if you were using buses you would
Really - its a non issues in Edinburgh - its been like this for decades and everyone is used to it
Are you royalty? Never carry cash indeed
SpokesCycles - MemberI don't understand who catches a bus. It's cheaper to drive most places, and in the countryside is quicker.
Rubbish
Do you pay for the tax and insurance on your car? did you pay to buy it?
thebikechain - Member...all it needs is a conductor like the olde days and this will also keep Senga and Chesney up the back seats in check and stop them playing happy hardcore crap on their phones.
Excuse me! Happy hardcore is not crap! 🙂
Do you pay for the tax and insurance on your car? did you pay to buy it?
*sigh*
Many people own a car for other reasons, so when you are talking about a specific journey ie going into town the tax and insurance etc are not factors.
Jesus you aren't half dense at times.
and everyone is used to it
Apart from those people that are tourists, although you claim that all the helpful locals help them out.
Sometimes TJ, you do seem to just argue for the sake of it.
Sorry, did I say sometimes?
Ohh, and I never carry cash - any spare money I have always goes into a tin at home (this includes £1 and £2 coins). So the only time I have anything less than a fiver is if I have already bought something in that particular visit to town or whatever.
Hmm - I would think that tax and insurance are a factor in the cost of the car. Divide how much you spend by how many miles you do and yopu have your cost per mile. So it's cheaper to use your car loads. Oh, hang on....
OP - Yes it is unreasonable paying £10 for a £4.10 fare. If several passengers do it near the start of a drivers shift then the £10 change float drivers are given goes pretty fast leaving no change for those passengers considerate enough to bring roughly the correct fare. Later in the day £20 notes are fine just expect the change in coins when drivers are trying to lighten their bags.
And yes I am a bus driver. Most passenger buying a £16 week ticket on our route either bring £16 or hand over a pound coin with their £20 so I can give a £5 note back rather than £4 change out of my float.
Our policy is to offer the passenger the opportunity of picking up change owed up from the depot the next day. Other companies will give credit tickets. If you start letting passengers travel for free because you have run out of change, guess what percentage of your passengers will be bringing large notes the next day. Some days we take over £600, you really would need to be a bank to carry that much loose change.
Like any profession there are good drivers and knobs. Shutting doors in peoples faces is unacceptable however once they are shut you and start to move off you are not allowed to open them again. Some drivers do but this encourages passengers to step in front of you or run alongside the bus banging on the doors which isnt exactly safe.
Single fares are pretty expensive but it is seen as a fair charge for occasional users. Regular passengers buy day tickets which often cost less than a return. Week tickets bring local travel to under £2 a day. A Northwest and N Wales area ticket which covers from Preston to Aberystwyth only costs £16 or around £600 for the year. How much is tax and insurance these days?
There is no excusing drivers who try to run cyclists over and I would urge anyone to report them. It will go on their file and add to any previous or future incidents. There are also many cyclists who I am convinced are trying to kill themselves. Riding out of side roads expecting a bus with standing passengers to slow or even stop like a car, red light jumping as you enter a junction from another direction and riding up the inside of a slowly moving bus with it's left indicator on are all frequent examples. There are also bus drivers who get wound up by matchbox drivers and cyclists as a group in the same way that certain other road users lump bus drivers together.
I've had a bloke that was riding along the pavement ride out onto a zebra crossing directly in front of me without looking over his shoulder when I was doing about 30mph. Luckily he was crossing from the other side of the road and saw me before carrying on in front of the bus as there was no way I could have stopped. He then started shouting and bawling at the next stop as to why I failed to give way. Go figure! I just drove off as it's just hassle you don't need.
Anyway, queue bus driver abuse!
MF - pot kettle black - do you know anything about this? Do you use buses? If you do then you leave some change in your pockets for the bus. Its not rocket science
MF - pot kettle black - do you know anything about this? Do you use buses? If you do then you leave some change in your pockets for the bus. Its not rocket science
I have already answered that question TJ ^^^^^^ (and when I use a bus I don't need to leave change in my pocket because ours give change). And of course it is not rocket science, but I am frankly astounded that you think it is reasonable for bus companies to use such tactics which are directly and solely employed to increase company profits through the assumption that some passengers will have no choice but to overpay.
I would have thought, given your political tendencies, for you to be shouting for ticket collectors, inspectors and a return of union rule, not over simplification and staff reductions to fill company coffers.
MF - I explained to you why they do it.
You don't use buses, you don't carry change. if you used buses you would carry change and you might have some understanding of the situation
I don't know - all this guff about change. If you went into Greggs the bakers is it rude to use a fiver for a 58p sausage roll ??
If it is a business requirement to service the needs of your customer to ensure that drivers have enough change, then you ensure that drivers have enough change. Or you don't give change and charge a flat fee, accept cards, give out credit vouchers, something, anything. Just don't blame the customer, they are paying for the service, and quite a lot in some cases.
I frakking hate the bus but am stuck with it sometimes. First Buses regularly say "oh it's an underused service" thats because it's so UNRELIABLE. 3 times last couple of weeks I have tried to catch a bus that just flat didn't turn up. Make it better and people might use it ??
And yes I am a bus driver. Most passenger buying a £16 week ticket on our route either bring £16 or hand over a pound coin with their £20 so I can give a £5 note back rather than £4 change out of my float.
So would £10.10 be acceptable for a £4.10 fare? I'm not trying to be funny here but where is my wife supposed to find £8.20 in change every week when most payments are made with plastic and cash points pay out in multiples of £10 notes?
It sounds like the system is out dated. Bigger floats or Oyster Card type payments are needed. Not abusive drivers (clearly this does not apply to all of them becasue the one on Monday accpeted the tenner without issue) who would leave somebody stood in the pissing rain at 7:00am because they haven't got the right change.
I recall when there were conductors on the buses and you could ask for a "cheapy", usually whatever coppers you had on you and no ticket issued.
shared at the end of the shift between clippy and driver.
I don't know - all this guff about change. If you went into Greggs the bakers is it rude to use a fiver for a 58p sausage roll ??
Greggs the bakers doesnt have hundreds of shops in each town. I would also refuse to carry any more than £10 float on the grounds that it would increase the likelyhood of being robbed as I travel to and from work.
Cheapy's went by the by when conductors were replaced with revenue inspectors although there is some discretion allowed as long as a ticket is issued.
So would £10.10 be acceptable for a £4.10 fare? I'm not trying to be funny here but where is my wife supposed to find £8.20 in change every week when most payments are made with plastic and cash points pay out in multiples of £10 notes?
£10.10 would be better as it's full pounds rather than 90p of silver as you can be struggling for small change just as often as full pounds. Better yet would be a fiver or even £5.10. We have travelcards (Oyster type cards) that even give a 10% discount but most people just get a weeks ticket as they use several connecting buses to get where they are going.
Greggs the baker does so have hundreds of shops in each town ! I am sure I cycle past at least a hundred on the way home.
But anyways my point was, if they can't manage to give out change then come up with a solution that doesn't involve turning customers away and making them angry...
But anyways my point was, if they can't manage to give out change then come up with a solution that doesn't involve turning customers away and making them angry...
We will take a name and address and they can then pick up the change from the bus station the next day. Inconvenient but passengers get to where they need to go. Other companies also offer 'change tickets' that can be used for your next fare. However sometimes the driver is just being a knob. Like I posted above, complain if it's for a £10 note. For a £20 your on a hiding to nothing 😉
you might have some understanding of the situation
I don't think you understand the situation. Companies providing services are supposed to make an effort to make themselves as useful as possible to their customers. Except where there's a monopoly, they can't be bothered so insist on correct change.
Where there isn't, you tend to get change imo.
£10.10 would be better as it's full pounds rather than 90p of silver as you can be struggling for small change just as often as full pounds. Better yet would be a fiver or even £5.10. We have travelcards (Oyster type cards) that even give a 10% discount but most people just get a weeks ticket as they use several connecting buses to get where they are going.
Thanks for that. I shall pass this information to my missus and it will make the World (well my world and whovever reads the customer feeback e-mails a FIRST buses) a happier place. 😉
---
Thread closed. Let's all talk about Katy Perry in a rubber dress.
Companies providing services are supposed to make an effort to make themselves as useful as [b]practicably[/b] possible to their customers.
Well I've been on lots of busses that did give change, so it can't be that hard surely?
MF - I explained to you why they do it.You don't use buses, you don't carry change. if you used buses you would carry change and you might have some understanding of the situation
Ohh, just have a look further up the post where I have mentioned on more than one occasion that I do use buses (and trains) will you?
Arguing with you is like having a **** - ultimately gets a result, but there is no real interaction with another person so it always fails to fully satisfy.
🙄
Lol! Good one MF 🙂
Lol! Good one MF 🙂
So good I posted twice!
Up here in civilisation (merseyside) we can travel all day after 9.30 for £4.50 on buses, trains and feries, and at anytime weekends and bank holidays.
there are also seperate tickets just for busses and one for just trains, so easy.
Strangely our dutch train company make little effort to collect fares, or sell tickets as their are few barriers, and train guards just seem to guard their little compartment at the back of the train.
What is it about this country with crap service apparently being acceptable. There seems to be no effort made by public services to make the customers happy and put them first.
Simple solution - carry more float so you can give people change? Don't have crap bus fares - try £4 instead of £4.10.
😕
I would also refuse to carry any more than £10 float on the grounds that it would increase the likelyhood of being robbed as I travel to and from work.
Not the customers problem, not your fault either really, better system needed.
Taxi drivers always seem to be able to cope with giving change.
Had a spate of problems with the missus and bus drivers. From one telling her that foreigners should f*ck off back to their own country. To another that stopped the bus a few yards from the stop, let others on, then closed the door refusing to let her on, then driving to the bus stop opening and closing the doors and driving off.
The same driver refusing her pass repeatedly. The same driver refusing to issue a return ticket.
Went on for a while, I reported it everytime to stagecoach, she hasn't seen him for a long time now.
Then there was the driver who took her on the wrong bus route, when there was a detour, and thought it was funny to drop her back at the same spot she had got on at 20 minutes later. She had asked if it was the Gateshead or Newcastle bus, due to a turn around detour on the bus route. He had chatted quite politely with her though during the journey, so she was just a bit bemused by it all.
At the same time she has had some really nice ones who have gone out of their way to make sure she gets off at the right stop when she is off somewhere new. Although they might not have an option as she is quite persistant when it comes to checking where she is going.
Don't have crap bus fares - try £4 instead of £4.10.
I would definitely be booking a holiday when fares go up.
How much to Somewheretown?
That will be £3 please.
But it was only £2 yesterday!
It's these new non crap rounded to the nearest pound fares some customers have asked us to use. 🙄
Taxi drivers always seem to be able to cope with giving change.
Taxi drivers don't have several hundred fares daily and can pop into shops/garages to get change between trips.
So, the system is broken.
Drivers can't carry large floats for safety reasons.
Customers can't get the change because we are moving away from a cashless society.
Saver tickets (on my wife's route anyway) don't work for people who use bus for 3 or less days a week. Which is still almost 300 journeys a year!
What should change? The entire way that small financial transactions are made or the bus companies policy towards giving change?
It's been said already, but this sort of rubbish is why we need to educate people that there is a better way: the bicycle. As long as you don't get run over by a bus, it's faster cheaper and easier. I dream of the day Britain gets decent bike infastructure, not just a bike/bus/taxi lane (surely a taxi is just a car, it's called a private cab, it's private transport!)
I can't see why you can't use a card to pay
Pretty much every business these days accepts payment by card
Pretty much every business these days accepts payment by card
Would passengers be willing to cover the credit card charge, the extra cost of a data call from the cab to check card validity and available credit plus the cost of installing all the equipment in the first place to solve a problem that just doesn't affect the vast majority of customers who have weekly passes or concessionary travel cards.
I doesnt help the Mrs Spider but weekly tickets can be bought with a card at PrePay/Paypoint shops. They won't do daily ticket due to the credit card charges being such a high percentage.
Prepay travel cards are slow making their way into the industry which solves the issue of change however they are currently only in limited areas. Some areas also do tickets for 10 or 20 journeys with a long validity.
My wife has written to FIRST asking for clarification of their policy. I'll post the reply on here if we get one.
A bus company boss earlier
[img] 
[/img]
I expect the response will be along the lines of,
"We are not a bank. Good Day."
?
That's a nice bike stand.
I just came across this thread whilst seeing if poor treatment by bus drivers was usual as i saw an incident today where some jumped up bus driver who thinks he rules the world told two women he didnt have change when they asked to pay with a fiver for a 4.60 fare. Number one what a joke and number 2 i just wish to reply to a comment made on here by a bus driver about him afraid of being robbed on his way to and from work if he carried more than £10 in change. Im sorry but where in the world do you work where its so dangerous and deadly to carry more than £10 on you. There are tramps all ovcer the uk who have more in their pockets. If it was the case anyone with more than a tenner was likely of being robbed i think there would be not enough robbers to keep up with the demand of trying to rob anyone who looked wealthy enough to have even a twenty. Stop making up feeble pathetic excuses you lowlife power grabbing bus drivers and start behaving and acting like a nice human being and help your own race by doing a little bit to make everyones life more pleasant. In otherwords learn how not to be a ****.
Ps i only joined up on this forum to have a go at him. Maybe i have too much time on my hands 😛
Oh. Well, erm...
Nice weather for this time of year....
😐
Ps i only joined up on this forum to have a go at him. Maybe i have too much time on my hands
Most certainly.
I think bus drivers' attitudes have improved in the last 3 months, no doubt as a result of this thread.
I'd forgotten about this. Now I'm all angry again.
I hadn't realised that buses didn't allow payment by card...
WTF are they on, easy fix - change law so that buses must be equipped with card readers. Sorted out the security problem of carrying cash.
I hadn't realised that buses didn't allow payment by card...
They do...
[img] 
[/img]
Sod chip-n-pin though. Can you imagine how long that would take?
My dad Is a bus driver and the company are phasing out "Pay as you ride" you will have to buy a ticket at the stop (like pay and display ticket)
my dad has been mugged 3 or 4 times for his cash till.
That payment system only exists in the nightmares I've had about twisted version of hell where everyone hates everyone else and there's no green open spaces. Non?
He hasnt been mugged as often as the passengers then
[i]Sod chip-n-pin though. Can you imagine how long that would take? [/i]
Never used the M6 Toll-Road? Just stick the card in and pull it out, no pin.
And remind me, Oyster, where exactly other than the Smoke does that work?
Elf can't compute anything outside of Zone 6.
You guys do make me laugh - loads of folk who wouldn't be seen dead on a bus complaining about lack of change.
I am used to buses that don't give change - its no big issue really - just have the right money with you or accept getting no change - or do a deal with another passenger.
Its a total non issue to regular bus users.
I do travel everywhere by public transport as im unable to drive due to a having a right arm that goes numb randomly due to damaged nerves and due to the fact i pay for my fare i expect to be treated well not like scum just because i have got on a bus with a five pound note or even a tenner. Almost anyone who gets on a bus usually goes out of there way in kindness for the driver and the bus company and easyiness and cost saving for themselves to either pre purchase a ticket or have correct or close to the correct change yet in the off chance i dont happen to, i dont expect to be had a go at or made to feel like i am creating an amazingly big problem just because i present a larger denomination. Its a small occurence where a note is used on a bus yet due to it being a service where money is handled and goods are sold i do expect them to have change and prepare accordingly for the situation of us having a note just like any other transport service or any service involving money in general. I dont use anything else in the entire world where i am ever told im sorry we dont have change. In absolutley no other situation occurs thats why people get so annoyed by it as we simply see it as a requirement that should be provided. I have used buses in italy, cyprus, the usa where they either have prepay options at the bus stop, have a free bus service or have the option of giving change. In particular in cyprus they let you go 3 stops without having to pay which makes sense as i dont see how it costs them £2.20 if you only go one stop compared with the whole bus route.
I do travel everywhere by public transport as im unable to drive due to a having a right arm that goes numb randomly due to damaged nerves and due to the fact i pay for my fare i expect to be treated well not like scum just because i have got on a bus with a five pound note or even a tenner. Almost anyone who gets on a bus usually goes out of there way in kindness for the driver and the bus company and easyiness and cost saving for themselves to either pre purchase a ticket or have correct or close to the correct change yet in the off chance i dont happen to, i dont expect to be had a go at or made to feel like i am creating an amazingly big problem just because i present a larger denomination. Its a small occurence where a note is used on a bus yet due to it being a service where money is handled and goods are sold i do expect them to have change and prepare accordingly for the situation of us having a note just like any other transport service or any service involving money in general. I dont use anything else in the entire world where i am ever told im sorry we dont have change. In absolutley no other situation occurs thats why people get so annoyed by it as we simply see it as a requirement that should be provided. I have used buses in italy, cyprus, the usa where they either have prepay options at the bus stop, have a free bus service or have the option of giving change. In particular in cyprus they let you go 3 stops without having to pay which makes sense as i dont see how it costs them £2.20 if you only go one stop compared with the whole bus route.
TL;DR
Just seen this thread and the wine is helping to make it very funny.
It has been a long time since I was on a bus. In fact, I think you could still smoke upstairs at the time.
I do have a fair bit of experience being on the receiving end of their inconsiderate and at times dangerous driving.
##note for any bus drivers. The highway code may say to give way for buses but at least indicate before to try to kill me##
Never used the M6 Toll-Road? Just stick the card in and pull it out, no pin.
Sweet; all I need is to nick a credit/debit card off someone else! Free travel! 😀
I don't drive, so it's not something that would affect me. Besides, those tolls also use an electronic tag system, which gives a discount on the journey. Bit like Oyster then...
And remind me, Oyster, where exactly other than the Smoke does that work?
Not my fault if Non-Londoners are too stupid to adopt such a brilliantly effective system... 🙂
Elf can't compute anything outside of Zone 6.
I rarely have the need to, thank God. 😐
It's a total non issue to regular bus users.
It might be an issue to the Hard Of Thinking though, Jeremy. Such as some folk on here...
I am used to buses that don't give change - its no big issue really - just have the right money with you or accept getting no change - or do a deal with another passenger.
Seriously? I mean I don't mind the odd couple of centimos here and there as it works both ways, and it does here. But if I thought the bus companies were systematically ripping paying customers off, ffs! That's theft.
Elf, and you wonder why you are on the receiving end on a daily basis?
Well I do like to please my fayns. 😀
Out of curiosity I just looked at the bus timetable on the internet.
Seems there are actually nine buses that pass through here each weekday. Five South and four North. I would have guessed at four!
Sadly there was no fare information on the website. I cant see that it could even come close to being as cheap as the car from what you lot are saying. However, I might take the kids for a jaunt. I really don't think they have ever been on a bus other than from Schiphol to the plane.
I think we may have found a half term afternoon filler if the weather is as poor as forecast.
most companies who use the no change system, put the 'overs' into a kitty which pays for the staff xmas nite out.
i understand that a passenger may think 'whats the big deal, its only 60p change the driver needs to give me'
however, when i pull up at a bus stop and 30 people get on and most of them need 60p change it adds up.
i regularly do an early run to glasgow where the bus starts at the bus station, stops once on the way out of town, then heads off onto the motorway, the fare to get to the first stop is £1.50.
i regularly get 2 guys (both travelling together) who will individually hand me a £20 note to pay me for a £1.50 fare, which means instead of having £40 of change, i have £3.
i dont complain, i believe its my job to be decent to people as well as drive, but if the 3rd person gets on with, say, a fiver for the same fare, i dont have the change to give them.
no excuse to be rude though, thats well out of order.
in my opinion, the vast majority of people do try to have change, as evidence, i rarely have a shortage at end of shift, its the tiny majority who cause a (minor) problem 1st thing in the morning.
as for oyster/debit card payments, that would entail new ticket machines which cost £1k a pop, which, ultimately, the customers are going to pay for.
Its a total non issue to regular bus users.
Does that make it okay then? 😐
Take a couple of 10 notes and 2 fivers as well as start with another 40 in change and all is well. any corner shop know they may have anyone walk in to buy a copy of the sun with a £20 note and i have never seen them refused and the service is no different.