Bus Users present Passenger Code
Bus Users UK has published a ten-point Passenger Code to demonstrate what passengers can do to improve bus journeys and encourage more people onboard. The list outlines ways passengers can help reduce bus stopping time, speed up journey times and improve the passenger experience for everyone onboard. The group is calling on operators to share the code with their passengers.
The Passenger Code includes the following points:
1 Pay attention at stops – keep an eye out for your bus and monitor any real-time information.
2 Form an orderly queue
3 Have our tickets, passes, contactless cards or apps ready before you board
4 Move to your seat as quickly as possible
5 Make way – make sure there is a clear path to the door for people trying to board or exit
6 Give priority to passengers who need it
7 Keep your belongings close
8 Don’t pollute – avoid anything likely to impact other passengers, like listening to loud music or talking loudly on the phone
9 Get ready to get off – ring the bell, just once, as far in advance of your stop as is practical
10 Thank the driver
A good number of bus passengers are older or disabled. Putting out much of this information would make them feel more unwelcome using buses and hence reduce passenger numbers. Actually, it needs recognising that people do need time to get to their seats and may not be able to identify when a bus is coming and stating that passengers should expect the bus to stop for them rather than having to flag it down. Many of these passengers won’t be comfortable using apps and the like and many stops don’t have any information at all. This philosophy of everything at the operator’s convenience is one of the key reasons why the bus industry is in such decline. Remember, passengers first, just like any other customer facing industry
Overall, as a bus passenger and sustainable transport advocate, I think these are quite sound. Although they shouldn’t apply to elderly and disabled people, able-bodied and younger people should try to be decent human beings to each other, and not jerks. I see the opposite of these practices all the time, and it really pisses me off that people don’t know how to be good neighbours to those around them. We need to raise our cultural expectations of public behaviour, instead of making excuses for ourselves and others.