The Telegraph's Latest Whinge about Bus Drivers

[Buzz Killington]

TRY thanking a bus driver for a ride and nine out of 10 times you'll be ignored. If their driving leaves a lot to be desired, their attitude can be even worse.

The surliness wouldn't be so offensive if they weren't responsible for so many lives on Sydney's roads.

The Daily Telegraph has revealed that more than 230 drivers have been caught speeding and running red lights in the past 12 months - and that's just the camera detections. State Transit could not provide figures on direct police intervention.

But a combination of industrial strength and State Transit's desperation to keep bus drivers happy in the face of severe staff shortages has left the travelling public dangerously exposed.

Appallingly, the blackest spot for bus driver speeding is through a 40km/h school zone in Cleveland St, Moore Park but that won't stop the Rail Tram and Bus Union (RTBU) from arguing the case for its rogue members.

This is the same union that tried to save the job of a driver who had 69 crashes before he was eventually sacked.

Victor Miguel averaged one crash a month for six years but the union fought for his right to be reinstated, blaming "poor training".

State Transit confirmed last month that 75 per cent of trainee bus drivers dropped out before buckling a seatbelt in anger because the "going was too tough".

It's shuddering to think how bad things would be if they had managed to graduate.

Almost 30 per cent of those who passed the "gruelling course" have since quit, fed up with what is known as "the scrap heap" - a reference to the way new drivers are given the worst shifts. It seems the grumpiness builds from day one.

The role of bus drivers in the ill-fated trial of integrated public transport ticketing can't be underestimated, either.

T-card test drivers at the Kingsgrove depot claimed it was "unreliable" - but their union had already let the cat out of the bag on the real reasons drivers didn't want a bar of the trial.

It turned out they thought the global positioning technology built into the T-card system was "a gross invasion of privacy".

"It's big brother!" the union screamed.

More than $90 million later, battling Sydney commuters still don't have a single ticket they can use on buses, trains and ferries - 12 years after it was first promised in the lead-up to the Olympic Games.

Then there was the recent bleating from the union about the installation of security cameras on buses. The RTBU said drivers were being "spied on".

The cameras were actually installed to protect passengers and drivers from crime - but somehow that reassuring reality was drowned out in the union's media campaign over last Christmas.

But as anyone who has been left lurching by a bus suddenly stopping will testify, drivers can't be placed under enough scrutiny.

The much-maligned speed and red light cameras seem to be a good start.

http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,25134578-5001030,00.html

[Ed]

Now only if all bus drivers went on a sudden strike...

[Irisbus Rider]

More than $90 million later, battling Sydney commuters still don't have a single ticket they can use on buses, trains and ferries - 12 years after it was first promised in the lead-up to the Olympic Games.


http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,25134578-5001030,00.html

Whats the daytripper?

In all seriousness, it is indeed a case of "Take what you can get", unfortunatwly it's got to be like that or services simply won't operate.

Oh, and I have an incling that the driver that had the 69 accidents simply sustained them by pulling out of bus stops legally, and cars that refused to give way simply ran into the bus. I have heard of this driver at STA, and would makes sense if the union tried to keep his job.

Never listen to the media, because what they'll usually say will be said with some sort of an intention, be it political or financial.

[belcodriver]

More than $90 million later, battling Sydney commuters still don't have a single ticket they can use on buses, trains and ferries - 12 years after it was first promised in the lead-up to the Olympic Games.


http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,25134578-5001030,00.html

Whats the daytripper?

In all seriousness, it is indeed a case of "Take what you can get", unfortunatwly it's got to be like that or services simply won't operate.

Oh, and I have an incling that the driver that had the 69 accidents simply sustained them by pulling out of bus stops legally, and cars that refused to give way simply ran into the bus. I have heard of this driver at STA, and would makes sense if the union tried to keep his job.

Never listen to the media, because what they'll usually say will be said with some sort of an intention, be it political or financial.

Torygraph in sticking the knife into a bunch of workers prepared to defend themselves shocker.