HawaiiStories: Bus drivers are overpaid sloths who have no remorse

June 30, 2004

Bus drivers are overpaid sloths who have no remorse

I wish I were making this up.

Bus drivers, if you'll recall, are those elitist creatures operating the city's oh-so-not-reliable public transit system. They're the ones who are quick to halt you from bringing a small, covered refreshment onto their charriot -- this is because they know they will speed unecessarily, causing you to spill it. They're not taking the rap for your clumsy fingers, you fool. They don't want to risk their chances of being awarded Operator of the Quarter and winning a trip to Vegas -- because we all know that's the only reason they treat us nice ocassionally.

Their enforcement of Bus Ordinances are anything but consistent. Although a clearly displayed sign warns passengers that the bus will not move unless they get behind the yellow line, the majority of drivers feign ignorance to this ordinance. Perhaps their mind is pre-occupied with how they plan to spend their savings at that famous Casino in Las Vegas. You know, the one that looks like a pyramid. Perhaps this is what's simmering in their heads as their carelessly drive by Bus Stops, leaving passengers stranded for another hour or so. Sometimes they feel like changing their sign to read "Not in Service" to inform the public. Sometimes.

Whether they sped you erratically towards your destination or took a slow Sunday drive to get you there, when they reach their final stop it's time for their break. If your bus driver stops to take a break, you might as well get off the bus and walk to your destination because you'll get there sooner. Sure you can always download a bus schedule on the Bus website, but it doesn't factor in a 45 minute bathroom/snack break.

Compared to paying $40 a month to be treated as a burden (as opposed to being a passenger) on a bus that takes it's sweet-ass time, spending that city money to build a rapid transit system doesn't seem that bad of an idea...

Posted by Cheyne at June 30, 2004 01:17 PM

Comments

Posted by kane on June 30, 2004 10:53 PM:

I've been riding The Bus since I was kid. After all these years and all the many miles of traveling over the island, I have yet to have a bad experience on The Bus. The worst thing that ever happened to me while riding The Bus, was I fell asleep while going to Kaneohe, and woke up at Turtle Bay.

Personally, I think the drivers are generally pleasant and more than willing to be helpful. Considering that the job must be a quite stressful in not only driving the Hawaii roads, but also dealing with a great number of residents, children, and tourists on a daily basis.

Posted by James on June 30, 2004 11:45 PM:

I've come across a few drivers who were rude, impatient and just plain jerks. Some drive way too fast without even giving you a chance to find a seat.

But mostly I've met a lot of nice drivers who do let you bring a drink on Da' Bus as long as it's covered. A few drivers will talk story with you and even give you a transfer that will last you the entire day, as it should.

I can partly understand why some drivers have an attitude. Have you seen some of the people who ride the bus. Loud talkers, putting their feet up on the seats, leaving trash laying around. I wouldn't stereotype every driver as being the same, each one has their own set of circumstances.

I will agree with the inconsistency of the rules, especially the yellow lines. A lot of drivers will have the bus packed, passengers pouring over the yellow line and still yell out. "Move it to the back." As if we could.

As far as them taking breaks, well everyone needs a break to relieve themselves. And they usually let the passengers know, not just stop the bus, take they keys to leave you clueless and stranded.

Overall I like the Bus system in Honolulu even if the drivers are overpaid, whining sloths without remorse.

Posted by Ryan on July 1, 2004 9:36 AM:

I've seen my share of bad bus drivers, to be sure. Most are just simply unmemorable. I gotta say, though, of all the stupid things and trouble I've seen on a bus, the vast majority of it originates with the passengers, not the driver.

Here's a first-person account of a circle-island bus ride, written by a travel writer.

Posted by albert on July 1, 2004 11:02 AM:

Well, after living for years in NYC, all public service employees here seem positively, wonderfully un-rude.

But I will admit to getting annoyed now and then by the drivers of the "A" express buses and their attitude at the UH-Manoa stop, especially when they refuse to let you sit in the bus during their lengthy breaks ... even when it's raining!

Posted by Cheyne on July 1, 2004 11:35 AM:

It's true there are a few exceptional drivers who actually make the experience more enjoyable. But nice drivers really shouldn't be an exception -- it should be the norm. For every nice driver I've met, there have been five others that have ruined my day. A sad ratio if you ask me.

It is very true that the passengers also contribute to a rider's misery -- it goes without saying. Perhaps I'm coming down on the drivers so ferociously because they had the audacity to strike and leave us stranded -- all for a bigger paycheck.

Regardless of all the bus drivers who were opposed to the strike, It seems to me that after all that hard work and all the torment everyone went through to get them their bigger paychecks, they should continue earning it and not slack off.

Posted by Sin on July 1, 2004 5:19 PM:

I used to take the last bus at 11:40 p.m. out of Ala Moana to get to my house in Aiea many moons ago. The bus driver was a no nonsense guy who threatened to throw you off if you were screwing around. Most of us were glad that he had that attitude because there's a lot of FREAKS who ride the last bus. Half of the passengers were night shift workers like me, custodians, nurses, resturant workers, etc, who were just trying to get home. The others were drunks, perverts, and mental patient escapees who seemed to on an acid trip or something. One guy tried to masterbate in the back one night while sitting next to a female passenger and the bus driver caught him and threw him off the bus. Everybody cheered. It was probably the single most awesome thing I've ever seen a bus driver do. He sure as hell deserved his payraise.

Posted by helen on July 1, 2004 9:30 PM:

My experience has been kind of good with the drivers and the service. Of course it helps to be aware of where you want to go and when to get off.

Posted by Justin on July 2, 2004 4:01 PM:

You're an absolute moron and if you've ever had a problem with the bus system it's probably because you're one of those annoying passengers who starts trouble.

I worked as a tour driver for many years and it's one of the hardest jobs I ever had to do. You complain because they take breaks? You think that driving for hours on straight doesn't deserve a break? Am I going out on a limb thinking that you have never driven before and have no clue how much driving takes out of you? and if you ever have the balls to work for your money the way drivers do then maybe you could afford to buy a car and stop riding the bus.

It's ridiculous to see our democratic system at work. People fought for decades trying to start unions so that large corporations could not take advantage of their workers. When a company excercises the right to strike then a snot nosed kid complains cause he can't get to Starbucks on time to meet his friends.

With your attitude I can see why you were stranded at bus stops during the strike; no friends willing to give you a ride, eh?

Posted by Cheyne on July 2, 2004 4:27 PM:

Justin,

Clearly you have not done your background check on me.

Actually, I'm a quaint bus-rider who keeps to his own business. Just ask Albert, who I'm sure has noticed me riding the same "route A" as he has once in a while. I don't incite trouble -- I just bitch from the sidelines about the trouble other people cause. It's my nature to not get involved -- it's a lovable type of passive-aggresive.

I'm sure you were very good at driving around a tour bus - why did you ever quit such a glamorous career?

I'm not saying they shouldn't take breaks -- we all know that when you're driving for hours on end, you need to relieve yourself by a bush or something. But a 45-60 minute break? Perhaps in your glamorous career this is the norm -- but in a normal 8-5 workday, we get no such thing. Oh wait, we do get a long break -- it's called lunch and it's only taken once a day.

I am a pedestrian and commuter by choice, so I don't think I'll get a car anytime soon. Besides, why should I have to face idiotic drivers like you on the road? At it's least, that's what the bus drivers provide me with -- protection from Hawaii's moroons.

And now two very curt responses: unions are stupid and I abhor Starbucks.

Actually, during the event of the strike I was able to get rides to and from work. It's only now, post-strike and post-huge raise, that I get stranded by mindless drivers who just don't feel like stopping for me and scores of people waiting to flash our overpriced bus passes.

Thanks for your criticism. I understand, though -- I'd be upset too if I found out the line I'd been standing in for an hour at the supermarket didn't accept EBT cards.

Posted by Sin on July 6, 2004 4:46 PM:

To Cheyne and Justin:

Chill the hell out, this board is no place for personal attacks. I don't care who started what.

And nobody appointed me mediator, but I just thought I'd head off trouble before it starts.

Peace all,

Sin

Posted by Me on March 6, 2005 12:43 AM:

Cheyne How old are you? You sound like a big man with a small brain.You need to get your facts right before you go shooting your mouth of. Tell me this what huge raise did the bus drivers get? You seem to know everything about what a city bus drivers job is all about.You You THINK you know but are you behind the wheel 20 tons of force and moving just to get your ass where you need to be. Theres a fine line to everything in life like Rules sometimes they can be over looked and sometimes not but I will tell you this that's nobodys call to make but the driver that sits at the head of the bus after all your life is in there hands there job is on the line every second all I can say to you is that the bus is not for people like you. You know why you only wish you good be a city bus driver but really as there might be some rude bus drivers you come across me as one of the many rude riders. Hope I'am never in the same bus ride with you.We was without bus service be cause of our mayor Harris find the facts ASS.

Posted by Mokihana on March 13, 2005 1:39 PM:

Thought I'd add a bit of nostalgia....This was a long time ago during my growing up years in Hawai`i... I used to take the bus everywhere: Waikiki, downtown to the dentist, over to Kane`ohe.. every Christmas there was a couple of Christmas buses; maybe they're still around... haven't been home during Christmas for a long time now. The buses were all decorated inside and out with Christmas decorations, including big jingle bells that would ring as the buses chugged along. Every week or so they'd change routes so that every route on the island got to to have the Christmas bus on their route.

Another favorite memory was one day arriving in Waikiki from Manoa Valley; it had been pouring rain all the way down... and as I got off the bus I stepped out into sunshine.

In all my years of riding the bus, I never had a grumpy bus driver.

Posted by Vanhoolpilot on August 30, 2006 5:02 AM:

First, ignorance is indeed bliss!

Second, you reveal the lack of character when you spout sarcastic words at ANYONE who actually works for a living, regardless if that is driving a bus, sweeping your street or cleaning out your toilet, all things you more likely than not require, but are either unqualified to do or simply do not, because there are others honorable enough to put in a good day's work for a fair day's pay.

You clearly have no clue what is required of bus drivers. During their training they sign literally hundreds of documents agreeing that anything and everything that happens ON the bus and TO the bus is their fault and the company will hold them liable for virtually EVERYTHING.

A transit driver will work 10 hours a day and the company will drive them until they drop dead if the driver allows it and most of the time they do, because they need the work. Transit companies don't care about their drivers... Oh they say they do, it sounds good to the ear, but they really don't.

All bus drivers know the term TURNING AND BURNING. That's when a driver is turned right around and sent back out without any breaks and/or turned right back around after the minimum time allowed by law that he is able to work and put back on the road again.

I don't know what YOU do for a living, but the odds are, every decision you make tomorrow will not directly effect literally hundreds of lives.

The odds are 47 to 72 passenger's lives (in one run, one way), their children's lives will not be dependent upon your skill and talent in tossing a 40 foot Nabi or 70 foot articulated New Flyer bus around a corner never designed for buses and do so without running up on the curb and cutting the legs off those standing waiting for the light to change.

The odds are what you do tomorrow will not involve being CRIMINALLY and CIVILLY liable for a $300,000 bus you signed out guaranteeing you would bring it back undamaged or else. Odds are you will not have the burden that if you are tired tomorrow, if you feel bad tomorrow, one mistake on your part could kill dozens of people in the blink of an eye. BEST BET IN VEGAS, you don't have to face that responsibility 10 hours a day... day after day. And then come to work and have some snotty-nosed whiner make sarcastic remarks about how important you imagine your job to be.

It's a very important job, this bus driving thing you make fun of.

People's lives depend on the driver's skill. And yes, there is a skill involved. He or she trained for months, before you ever got to see them behind the wheel. People's livelihood depend on him being there every day so they can go to work and then get home to their children.

People's family life depend on him, because without his being there day after day, they would spend far more time, trying to figure out a way to get home to spend time with their husbands and wives.

People depend on him and his skill set to make sure they get home safely so their children do not have funerals to attend to and lives ruined because mommy was mugged walking home from work or killed when some nitwit whiner ran a stop sign.

So you sit and whine and be sarcastic about the job those bus drivers have. It does little more than reveal your ignorance about the job, the subject and says far more about your lack of character than you would perhaps want people to know.

Oh! And the SLUR about the pay. Most Inter-Cities transit drivers in 2006 earn between $16 and $27 an hour plus a few tips thrown in by those who really understand what it is they do.

As a charter bus driver in a very popular market, I can make as much as $600 a day with wage (10 hours x $19 or $190 a day average) + tip ($5 per passenger on a charter of 47 or $235 a day on a slow day, most of the time it's more.) + spifs (Those $20, $50, $100 cash gratuities restaurant owners, gift shop owners, hotel managers, entertainment businesses give drivers when they bring 47 passengers hungry for food or shopping to their establishments). And that's SIX DAYS A WEEK!

I don't know if you make $1,500 to $3,600 a week, perhaps you do, but if you don't, then you owe some bus driver somewhere an apology, though I suspect you just don't get it. I suspect you don't have a clue what a bus driver really is or what he does.

Oh... And bus drivers do not decide about cups or speed or breaks they take. That is decided by the company and transit companies are HORRIBLE!

Every transit bus in America today has at least four video cameras on it which run all day long. When they hit a bump or the brakes too hard, a red light comes on and INDEXES what time they had their BUMP or HARD STOP. They are called into a review by senior drivers to explain why they caused the light to come on.

If you stick your arm in the door and the door shuts on your arm... an event which is INCAPABLE of harming anyone, the driver is reprimanded or fired. If his bumper touches a cone near a construction site, that is a PREVENTABLE ACCIDENT as is his hitting a tree branch with a mirror, even though no damage is done, it is a PREVENTABLE ACCIDENT. THREE IN ONE YEAR AND HE IS FIRED!!! He gets the same pentalty for TOUCHING a tree branch with his mirror that he does when he runs over a child, his fault or not, PREVENTABLE ACCIDENT!!!

You just have NO IDEA what drivers are responsible for, nor do you understand what they go through for their palm full of silver each day.

Now... The PAT and predictable response to this post from whiners like you is, "LIKE I CARE!"

Because the disturbing trend in America these days is to say stupid things, spout silliness in error of good judgement and feel as though being a fool is a virtue and then when people call you on it, point out the silliness of your whine, it is they who are smited and scorned, for how dare they point out the error of your ways!

I'm going to bet a shiney new dime, you just don't understand a word I said. BEST BET IN VEGAS!

April 2009
Sa	M	T	W	R	F	Su
			1	2	3	4
5	6	7	8	9	10	11
12	13	14	15	16	17	18
19	20	21	22	23	24	25
26	27	28	29	30

Bus drivers are overpaid sloths who have no remorse

Comments

Post a Comment