"Insipid Passenger" Stories

[nbus]

The light would have to be turned on at 5:15am for saftey when walking up and down the train as some people do get up then.

[B10BLE]

The Frankston line in Melbourne attracts alot of insipid passengers just like 901.

After attending today's The Age VCE Careers expo at Caulfield Racecourse today, our teachers told us that we can head out & do what we want. My friends & I decided to head off to Southland on the Franga train. Off we went. Upon arriving at McKinnon station, a middle aged I.F screams out "DOES ANYONE ON THIS CARRIAGE HAVE A PEN & PAPER I COULD BLOODY USE??"
A woman sitting behind me says in a normal tone "I'd love to give it to you, but you have such a crappy attitude."
The I.F walks to the lady behind me & demands the paper & pen, in which the well mannered lady behind me refuses. Oh, YES! Heated arguments
Both ladies engage into a tongue lashing battle from McKinnon to Highett. That was round 1
In between McKinnon & Highett, the I.F walks away from the lady behind me, after a few minutes, she comes back to the lady (ROUND TWOOOOO!) demanding her wallet, car keys & the pen/paper
After getting off at Cheltenham, I really don't know what happened to the both of them

Thank God that was the last time I rode a train on the Frankston line.

[MiniNut]

Doing the 737 to Monash the other night. IF gets on at Knox, her face lit by the glow of her phone screen. She asks if the bus goes to Pinewood Shopping centre and when I replied it did, she naturally asks if I can tell her when we get there before sitting down and returning her gaze to the screen. Don't you love it when they ask you to let them know because they want to watch something and can't be bothered to pay attention themselves.. I digress.
Doing the slow section from Glen Waverley to Monash Uni, as they allow 20 minutes for a 12 minute trip, I roll up to the Pinewood Shops stop across the road, with one eye in the mirror watching as IF has lifted her nose from her technology and is looking straight at the shops. I call out Pinewood as I come to a stop. She gets up, walks up to me and I swear to God says, "Do I cross the road now?"
I couldn't help myself.. "Nope. If you wait 5 minutes the shops will cross the road to you".... groan

Look, I know she may have thought I would possibly turn right into the shopping centre itself.. but the fact I was letting her out on the other side of a six lane road should have twigged I wasn't going in..

[scott]

Was she a blonde by any chance?

[MiniNut]

No. She had black hair

[pgt]

Some passengers...

IF gets on the 144 this morning, with "nanna cart/trolley" and couple of bags of miscellaneous items. IF herself isn't mobility impaired and probably in her 40s/50s.

After telling the driver "oh I'll be a while" (with the ticket), she offloads her bags into luggage area... then has the hide to ask the passenger sitting next to the luggage area to move over! (The seat next to him was free, so only possible reason I can think of was so she could stick her hand into the luggage area and "hold" onto the bags, even though it wouldn't have been necessary).

--Phil.

[tonyw]

I travel regularly on the 903 from Doncaster to Box Hill at around 8:00 am. This bus gets pretty full and often does not pick up passengers from Shannon Avenue to Whitehorse Road, but the bus is NOT at capacity. There are often a few seats up the back! IPs stand in the aisle at the front of the bus and won't move to the back.

[Mitch]

Quite heavily drunk IM attempts to board bus a few days ago at Geelong Station. After a long and extremely audible disagreement between said IM and the bus driver, IM is kicked off the bus. IM then proceeds to stand in front of the bus, therefore making the bus unable to depart.

This little showdown lasted a good ten minutes or so before a police officer happened to wander around the corner from the cop-shop and had a little 'word' to the IM.

Thanks,
Mitchul [;

[pakenhamtrain]

On the way home yesterday not once but twice people getting off the train mistook the emergency intercom button for a door open button on the Comeng I was on.

Then at Sandown Park an IM realised it was his stop. Got up and darted for the doors which door closing chime was sounding. He opened the doors but only got them a heads with apart before the air pressure sent them the opposite direction. Result was the IM getting smacked between the ears from the closing door.

[Mother]

IF boards a bus in Parramatta yesterday, and asks the driver, "Is this the other bus?"

With a "did I hear right" look, the driver asks her to repeat.

IF asks again, "Is this the other bus?"

Driver "Oh, the other bus! Yes, this is the other bus." Thus, he cuts short what would most likely have become a long, drawn-out and totally pointless dialogue.

[Peter1805]

I travel regularly on the 903 from Doncaster to Box Hill at around 8:00 am. This bus gets pretty full and often does not pick up passengers from Shannon Avenue to Whitehorse Road, but the bus is NOT at capacity. There are often a few seats up the back! IPs stand in the aisle at the front of the bus and won't move to the back.

903 drivers are clearly instructed by supervisors to ensure that passengers move right back in the bus and that the bus is, in fact, filled to capacity in such circumstances. Then, and only then, may the driver seek approval from operations to not pick up further passengers until space is created by passengers getting off the bus.
Drivers are instructed to resume picking up passengers as soon as space is created.

[tonyw]

Not happening Peter. Some drivers of a certain similar appearance are not following those instructions. I reckon I could pick who you are, LOL, I might ask next time you're driving the bus.

[Peter1805]

Not happening Peter. Some drivers of a certain similar appearance are not following those instructions. I reckon I could pick who you are, LOL, I might ask next time you're driving the bus.

No worries, I'll look forward to it, but I don't drive 903 any more.

You should report any such instances to Ventura. It will keep happening if it's not reported.

[tonyw]

Now I'm even more coinvinced I've picked you out, LOL. I haven't seen you in months.

[Bus 400]

First one was yesterday on an ACTION Blue Rapid. An international female buys 2xDaily Concession Tickers for her & her friend/partner & as the driver prints the tickets, she Tags her MyWay on.

The next one is a little concerning, but minor. On Friday, a young lady jumped on the Deanes Transit Group Canberra to Yass bus. However she realized once the bus turned left (instead of right towards Queanbeyan/Cooma). As the next stop would of been either Hall or Murrumbateman. The concerning thing is that the driver normally asks where you are going. With the only possibility being that she just placed her Deanes Discount Card in the reader & the driver selected Yass by default. Otherwise no fare from the City is comparable between the 2 services.

[boronia]

Had some fun with a couple of IFs at Central Station the other day.

Two young girls trying to catch a train to somewhere, going through the lower concourse gates. IF #1 goes through the barrier, then walks up to the glass wall and pushes the ticket under the glass to IF #2 still outside.

As #2 tries to get through the gate, I enter through adjoining gate, and see that the machine has rejected her ticket. I tell her she should go and buy her own ticket. Next thing I know she has taken the ticket and moved into my gate to try and get through behind me. So as soon as I pass the barrier I stop so she can't get get past. Barrier closes and stops her, so I tell her again to get a ticket. Attendant notices commotion and comes over to investigate.

Last thing I saw was #2 heading over towards ticket window to buy ticket.

[Penguin]

nice work boronia

[pakenhamtrain]

At Narre today.
IM and his mate were crossing the tracks. Mate manages to get through before just as the booms go down. The IM on the other hand decides to run as hard as possible through the emergency gate with a V/Line train approching. I overheard him saying as he came up the ramp "That was fun"

I wasn't aware playing with your own life counted as fun for some people these days.

[pakenhamtrain]

I can add a second story about myself being a bit thick.

I was off to TAFE this morning. I arrived at Dandy. Walking down the stairs from the platform level you can read the desto of the first 901 bus sitting there. I look at the desto and think Yep my bus. Get on, touch my Myki and sit up the back. I first noticed somthing wrong when the PID displayed Cheltenham road. I did think Maybe it's playing up. The penny hit the floor when I noticed another 901 turning right onto Walker street while the bus I was on was about to turn left. So I get off at the Cheltenham Road stop. I look the desto and yep no faulty desto no wrong thing. Just my faulty brain. I see an airport bound 901 go the other way. Thinking it will be long gone by the time I walk to the lights, Cross the road and get to the bus stop. I did the 450M sprint to the station. I get on top of the footbridge and the bus is sitting there. I wasn't all bad though I got one of the express buses instead to the TAFE.

The silly thing was I wasn't the only one who did it.

[BestFriendHasLeprosy]

It's so annoying when the same route headed in different directions stops at the same stop.

[deepthought2006]

It's so annoying when the same route headed in different directions stops at the same stop.

Yeah. It makes you have to actually read the destos on the bus! And that's not fair, is it!

We have a similar problem at Macquarie Centre in Sydney, where outbound services stop at the adjacent bus stop/stand to the stand for the inbound services. People are always getting on the wrong bus (despite the clear labelling of destinations at the stands and, of course, on the bus destos) and then inevitably, soon after, you'll hear: "Driver, does this bus go to Epping?" Driver says: "Only if it says so on the destination sign. I'll drop you off at the next stop, so you can check it for me. I wouldn't want to be driving this bus the wrong way, now would I!"

[Swift]

What about the old "via Crows Nest" debacle where outbound buses have already been but confused intending passengers take the sign literally. Well, at least it shows they ARE reading the signs.

[deepthought2006]

Yes, but its the wrong one - reading the Via rather than the Destination.

Actually, I'd like to see location-sensitive destos (the Via part, anyway). The desto system would update itself via GPS so that the Via part is always correct. I suppose it will happen one day.

[Swift]

GPS has been in general use for, what, twenty odd years? The bus industry (in NSW anyway) has been awfully slow to embrace the potential uses for every day operation such as the that idea with the destos. I thought 2012 had arrived!

[tonyw]

What's happened to my favourite thread? No IPS's since october 2012!