When buses are missing, the time between buses doubles so waiting time increases. It can become very unclear to those standing at or near multiple line bus stops why the bus passes by. The bus is full because double headway means double passenger load.
One phrase used frequently by bus drivers are the phrases, “my time” and “your people.” Such as, “He left on my time,” or “I am picking up her people.” The tone in which this is said is in proportion to the tension felt by those waiting. Use of a Jerry Springer Show dialect, with a sliding bobble head neck drives home the point of coming to work to do work, or to just stay home.
All the frantic yelling and screaming is moot if you are no longer in the scanning range of the operator or outside the zone. The scanning range of an operator is one to two blocks ahead of the direction of travel. Once the front door passes by where you stand, lucky is the day the bus stops. And I do appreciate your thanks when I do stop. But stopping is the exception to the rule when I am late and I am full.
If no one rings to get off, and the bus is full, the bus doesn’t stop. It becomes important to see how full a bus is as it approaches. Looking away on a cell phone, or talking to someone else and facing away from the direction of travel, all compound the chance of a bus not stopping if no request to stop is made on board on a crowded bus. These are the unwritten rules of not wanting a bus: If you are not facing the operator as the bus is a half a block away, and you are alone, and you are on Van Ness or Mission, we usually will not stop. In San Francisco there are so many passing by, or standing, or sleeping (or whatever) in the shelter, we have learned to look at your hands to see if you are holding the fare. This is called looking for those who are ready.
So baby stops, not at a light, or far side from the cross street, are not equal to major transfer points nearside at a stop light. Increasing your odds for pickup become relevant if no bus is seen coming, or you see the taillights of a bus just having gone by.
A red light can save you when headway is long, or a bus is full. A good question to ask yourself while waiting, is, what are the chances of someone wanting to get off at this stop where I am waiting? It also pays to be aware of when the next bus is due. Do you have a clock in the shelter where you are waiting? If not, is there another bus stop a block or two away that does have next bus? If you are waiting at a minor stop with no clock, and no way to see a bus coming, should you move to a better line-of-sight stop by a stop light or transfer point, so as to increase the chances of a stop? The answer is Yes!
Odd numbered street stops have been removed in the Inner Mission to reduce dwell time and running time for the 14 line and this makes it important to know where to stand and have your pass ready to tag-in with your phone or card. As soon as you leave the store with your wallet out, get ready to have your phone or fare ready to go. This compliments our ‘red carpet’ treatment on the pavement: transit gets priority over car traffic. The newly painted red lane reduces congestion from the influx of the 5,000 ride share cars coming in to the city from the East Bay.
If, however, that other stop has a large number of people waiting, sometimes it pays to backtrack to a stop with less people waiting so you can get a better spot inside the bus before it gets too full. Giving up a major stop is good if you can tell on your smartphone or the shelter next bus time clock, that another bus is only one or two minutes behind the first coach. Usually this first bus is packed, and the next one is okay. So sometimes getting on the first bus is bad.
The chances of a fight breaking out, “Quit Pushing!” “Get off my Leg!” and such always occurs on the first, more crowded bus. The chances of this bus going out of service are also greater.
Think about it. When you see a mob of people getting off of a bus that stops working, it is a mob of people. Very rarely is it an un- crowded bus. This crowded bus is usually late and arrives after a long wait for buses. Try to avoid getting caught by noticing how many people are waiting when you first arrive on foot to the bus stop. Sometimes if you get on a local neighborhood bus or another line with less people, you can transfer later down the line and be on time.
So what am I saying? I am saying if you are smoking a cigarette, talking on your cell phone, looking away from the street, all alone or sitting down, and look like you haven’t seen the inside of a gym in years, forget about it! All the shouting and cursing in the world isn’t going to make the bus stop, unless you can beat it to the next red light and get the cap number of the bus driver! Good Luck, and see you next time!
The Dao of Doug: A Bus Driver's Perspective 