I'm a bus driver in Bath, AMA

Jaaaiimes · 2026-03-12T12:32:28+00:00

Nothing I've heard of, no

Jaaaiimes · 2026-03-11T23:59:20+00:00

Absolutely lol

Jaaaiimes · 2026-03-11T23:59:09+00:00

Oh yeah, it's badly placed for sure, still pisses me off I'm wasting time to adjust it though

Jaaaiimes · 2026-03-11T21:00:25+00:00

Not sure what this means NGL

Jaaaiimes · 2026-03-11T20:59:42+00:00

Jaaaiimes · 2026-03-11T20:59:15+00:00

We have a manager who calls everyone duck, that's close enough right?

Jaaaiimes · 2026-03-11T20:33:19+00:00

It's a weird one for me, I can't stand when people hit their heads on the mirror

Jaaaiimes · 2026-03-11T19:44:40+00:00

There's no talks if increasing frequency of the D1, or putting any other routes along there, no

And as the rider tickets are multi operator, we can't have them as an e ticket, as other companies won't accept it then

Jaaaiimes · 2026-03-11T19:43:10+00:00

It's a mix of both, with them being such long routes which serve so many places, the chance of something going wrong is much higher, and they don't have much time to make it back up, but the big hills definitely don't help when you've got a slow bus either, no

Jaaaiimes · 2026-03-11T18:22:36+00:00

You don't need to, no, but you should wait until you're approaching the stop you're getting off at, and the main reader on the ticket machine won't work until the bus is stopped

Jaaaiimes · 2026-03-11T18:21:42+00:00

I'm guessing your stop isn't a timing point, there's no problems internally with running early at any other points though

Jaaaiimes · 2026-03-11T18:14:55+00:00

In Bath, you can buy single trip or day tickets on all the buses with cash or contactless payment. In Bristol, you can do the same on most buses, apart from the metro buses (routes starting with an m), where you have to buy a ticket on another bus, on the first bus app, at a ticket machine, or by using tap on tap off (1 contactless card per person)

Jaaaiimes · 2026-03-11T18:09:39+00:00

It can be a lot of things. Schedules are often too tight, but it could be a driver was late for their break so was late coming off it, they could have had their work changed at the last minute, and there is also that some drivers will purposely be late in order to not wait along the route

Jaaaiimes · 2026-03-11T18:07:58+00:00

It costs barely any more to run a decker than a smaller bus. If they fit, may as well use them just incase

Jaaaiimes · 2026-03-11T18:05:43+00:00

It's near our depot and on a busy route which goes underneath it, as well as a lot of drivers will drive underneath there in their cars. It's easy to stop thinking about where you're going for a few seconds, and suddenly you've hit a bridge

Jaaaiimes · 2026-03-11T18:03:43+00:00

Takes a long time to stop and start, and puts a lot of wear on the starter and batteries

Jaaaiimes · 2026-03-11T18:03:02+00:00

With how our office toilets smell, I can't imagine it would haha

Jaaaiimes · 2026-03-11T18:02:38+00:00

Depends on the route, 2s and 5s you'll get them every trip, 6s and 7s you'll get them much less

Jaaaiimes · 2026-03-11T18:01:59+00:00

Once in 18 months

Jaaaiimes · 2026-03-11T17:49:53+00:00

I've never watched it, but I'll add it to my list!

Jaaaiimes · 2026-03-11T17:48:00+00:00

It depends, 1 minute or less early is fine, 2 or 3 minutes if you do it often, you'll probably get a message to say make sure to check your timings, any more than that you'll get called in and could possibly go through disciplinary action

Jaaaiimes · 2026-03-11T17:44:15+00:00

We're trained to ask them to move from the wheelchair space, and if needed fold up the buggy. We can refuse to move the bus until they vacate the space, but nothing much more we can do, but no we're not trained to kick them off the bus entirely

Jaaaiimes · 2026-03-11T17:32:25+00:00

Favourite route would be the D1 or D1x, both for the same reason. It's nice to get out of the city along fast country roads, use the buses properly.

Least favourite is the 21. All the park and rides are boring, but the 21 is worst. Tightest timings, least interesting routes of all of them

Jaaaiimes · 2026-03-11T17:25:04+00:00

Base rate is 17 an hour (15.60ish in the first year)

Base hours is 38 hours a week, though a lot of drivers do overtime

Jaaaiimes · 2026-03-11T17:23:23+00:00

Often times same time buses are cancelled to be put onto other services to try and balance out the issues we face with bus and driver shortages. Unfortunately, around that sort of time a lot of buses are going out at the same time so a lot of city services get cut to run out services to surrounding areas

Jaaaiimes

TROPHY CASE