A friend of mine got a phone call at daft o’clock one evening from his son who hadn’t turned up home.
“Dad, can you pick me up from the city centre please?”
Bear in mind that he lived in a smaller town 40 miles or so from the city; on a bus route that spanned two cities about 90 miles apart.
Turns out that he had been taught how to board a bus; ask for a ticket; pay; and take a seat… but never learned how to leave a bus.
His dad was understandably pissed off, having been kicked out of bed at midnight to do a near two-hour round trip drive to pick his lad up. He asking him why he hadn’t pushed the bell to signal the driver to stop.
“I thought they were just emergency stop buttons, and because I told the driver where I was going when I got the ticket, I thought he would stop for me… and when he didn’t, I just sat and waited until the end of the line”.
I thought buses just stop at a station, you have to signal to the driver to stop? I’ve never ridden a bus before, so at least that’s my main reason, but if I got on and didn’t see a button or anything, I’d probably make that mistake 💀
Even in my tiny country. Small town bus makes stop if you stand up or someone’s waiting, capital city bus makes every stop, other city bus needs to be prompted by the light.
So I definitely missed my stop first time I took the bus in the other city lol
I think almost everywhere there are regular stops and request stops. How much each type is utilized, and how well they are differentiated, is what differs regionally.
Buses in Europe tend to be pretty good for this, there is an announcement that the next stop is a request stop and you have to press the stop button to disembark. (It is also explained on the information screen). Gets a bit annoying if you use the bus regularly, but makes it much better for new users.
There are some stops where the bus always stops, and others where you have to signal the driver to stop (known as request stops). You will typically find the first kind in high density areas like cities, and the other in suburbs or in the countryside (there are even “stop areas” in some very rural places, where the driver officially must stop anywhere along it when asked).
The same applies to trains too, although request stops are not as common as they are for buses (and I don’t know of any stop areas for trains)
I’ve seen the stop request signals in a lot of city buses where there’s a stop every block or so. The bus will stop at bus stops where people are waiting, driving past empty bus stops, and if someone on the bus requests to stop it will stop at the next stop to let them off
It’s mostly now buttons next to the windows/on a pole connected to the seats. Rarely and mostly on older busses, there may be a cable running along the upper edge of the windows. When you trigger either one, it signals the driver to stop at the next bus stop on the route (rather than only stopping if picking someone up) to allow you to get out.
I’m American, but like I said, I’ve never had to ride a bus (besides HS school buses). My sister used to ride a bus to community college, only cause she was too afraid of driving originally.
A friend of mine got a phone call at daft o’clock one evening from his son who hadn’t turned up home.
“Dad, can you pick me up from the city centre please?”
Bear in mind that he lived in a smaller town 40 miles or so from the city; on a bus route that spanned two cities about 90 miles apart.
Turns out that he had been taught how to board a bus; ask for a ticket; pay; and take a seat… but never learned how to leave a bus.
His dad was understandably pissed off, having been kicked out of bed at midnight to do a near two-hour round trip drive to pick his lad up. He asking him why he hadn’t pushed the bell to signal the driver to stop.
“I thought they were just emergency stop buttons, and because I told the driver where I was going when I got the ticket, I thought he would stop for me… and when he didn’t, I just sat and waited until the end of the line”.
Poor soul.
I thought buses just stop at a station, you have to signal to the driver to stop? I’ve never ridden a bus before, so at least that’s my main reason, but if I got on and didn’t see a button or anything, I’d probably make that mistake 💀
It differs regionally.
Even in my tiny country. Small town bus makes stop if you stand up or someone’s waiting, capital city bus makes every stop, other city bus needs to be prompted by the light.
So I definitely missed my stop first time I took the bus in the other city lol
I think almost everywhere there are regular stops and request stops. How much each type is utilized, and how well they are differentiated, is what differs regionally.
Buses in Europe tend to be pretty good for this, there is an announcement that the next stop is a request stop and you have to press the stop button to disembark. (It is also explained on the information screen). Gets a bit annoying if you use the bus regularly, but makes it much better for new users.
There are some stops where the bus always stops, and others where you have to signal the driver to stop (known as request stops). You will typically find the first kind in high density areas like cities, and the other in suburbs or in the countryside (there are even “stop areas” in some very rural places, where the driver officially must stop anywhere along it when asked).
The same applies to trains too, although request stops are not as common as they are for buses (and I don’t know of any stop areas for trains)
In my city late night buses do this anyway, even in areas where the daytime route uses mostly request stops.
They by default stop at stops only if there is someone waiting there, otherwise you need to call the stop by pressing the button.
I’ve seen the stop request signals in a lot of city buses where there’s a stop every block or so. The bus will stop at bus stops where people are waiting, driving past empty bus stops, and if someone on the bus requests to stop it will stop at the next stop to let them off
Most stops they will only stop if someone is waiting or if someone on the buss hits the button
It’s mostly now buttons next to the windows/on a pole connected to the seats. Rarely and mostly on older busses, there may be a cable running along the upper edge of the windows. When you trigger either one, it signals the driver to stop at the next bus stop on the route (rather than only stopping if picking someone up) to allow you to get out.
that’s so wild. is it too personal to ask what country you’re in?
I’m American, but like I said, I’ve never had to ride a bus (besides HS school buses). My sister used to ride a bus to community college, only cause she was too afraid of driving originally.
oh yeah i forgot america has special school buses. that makes more sense.
As someone who has grown up with social anxiety, this easily could’ve been something that happened to me…
That’s something I pretty frequently hear from parents with autistic childs
You should tell your friend to watch out for other potential signs and maybe get his son checked out by a health professional
How many of us haven’t actually done that but feel like we should have?
I can’t say I’ve never done almost exactly that