A “DISGRUNTLED” Lothian Bus operator has shared a public statement announcement online about their biggest pet peeves about driving in Edinburgh.
The anonymous driver posted on an online forum, titled Edinburgh: News, Events and Discussion, on behalf of all the city’s bus operators about his biggest annoyances which include other road users and poor passenger etiquette.
In the first of the three paragraphs, the anonymous driver states their frustration over passengers being annoyed when the bus is late.
They explained one of the main reasons the buses are late is due to temporary traffic lights causing delays and the fact that the city isn’t “designed for heavy traffic”.
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The post online read: “It is not our fault your bus is late. Deal with that, we get it is frustrating, we get that you’ve waited a long time. There is nothing we can do, the city was not designed for heavy traffic and honestly you try driving a bus around in it.
“Princes St and the rest of town aren’t even the problem it’s the residential area where temporary traffic lights keep springing up that causes us delays and you know what we can do about them? Sweet FA.”
The anonymous poster then went on to explain another annoyance for Lothian bus drivers is when passengers don’t signal correctly.
They went on to plead to passengers to indicate correctly by raising their hand if they wished to hail a bus and not just stand there and stare at their phones.
They said: “If you wish to board the bus you need to indicate that. It’s actually in the terms and conditions of being a bus passenger for the main transport provider in the city. Staring at me is not an indication. Staring at your phone at the curb is not an indication. Raise your hand for the love of sweet Jesus, but also no need to go full Germany 1930s salute either, just stick it up to your midriff that’s good enough.”
Lastly, the bus driver turned their annoyance with other motorists – stating they know car drivers “hate” buses.
The Lothian driver claimed that some motorists “place” bus operators into “awkward positions” when trying to navigate the city roads.
They plead with car drivers to simply “stay in their lane”.
“Car drivers we know you hate us, but you also force us into the worse possible scenarios. You don’t see from our perspective what you do that makes public transport in this city a problem,” the anonymous poster said.
They added: “If your back wheel overlaps into the adjoining lane, you have put the bus driver in an awkward position where they have to decide do they risk trying to squeeze past you or do they wait but then have more people moaning at them at how late they are. Stay in your lane and get in it nice and early that’s literally all we can ask of you.”
People were quick to thank the anonymous poster for sharing their thoughts as one person said they were glad to get confirmation on the best way to signal for a bus and that they weren’t just “looking oddly pushy”.
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While another person said they respect the call for good manners.
A third person said that people in the emergency services appreciated Lothian Bus drivers as they “have a reputation” for actively helping by creating clear passages by blocking off other traffic.
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