I can only imagine it is difficult maintaining services in this kind of weather, but you seem to be doing a good job. The one day snow defeated my cycling aspirations the bus ran perfectly and I still made it to work on time.
This morning on the bike I have cause to thank one of your drivers for some excellent driving. He was in charge of the No.44 (SN55 BMZ) at about 9.20 this morning, heading west along London Road past Meadowbank Stadium. I was in the bus lane and heard him behind me. The road ahead (where there are junctions to Lower London Road and Wishaw Terrace) was narrowed to one lane due to the snow. Your driver was clearly looking ahead as he slowed from overtaking me (I was in the bus lane at this point) allowing me to move over through the narrowed section. The positioning of the bus also meant that no cars could get past him (a lot of them were not as patient as your driver), I’m not sure if this was a deliberate move or not, but it was successful. He then passed me when the road widened again heading up past Marionville Road.
I leapfrogged the same bus a couple of times as he had to stop for passengers, but every time he went past it was giving a wide berth, at a sensible speed, and only if he did not have to pull in to stop immediately after going past.
I have to say that the grand majority of the time your drivers are incredibly good around bikes (in the last 6 years of cycle commuting I have only had cause to complain roughly once a year, which given the number of buses and passes is a pretty low figure) – much more so than the First Bus counterparts (one of whom this morning showed how not to go past).
I hope you can pass on the thanks to the driver responsible, and keep up the good work!
Anthony
posts
