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Dear First Bus...

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  1. SRD
    Moderator

    Dear Sir/Madam,

    Around 5.15pm on the 17th of May, I was travelling southbound on Dalkeith Road, on a bicycle. I had followed two buses into the intersection of Dalkeith Road and Holyrood Park Rd, and as we moved through the intersection they pulled into the bus stop by the Commonwealth Pool. I continued straight in the middle of the lane, to collect my daughter from nursery. However, as I was doing so, the second bus which had pulled in to the stop and was fully out of the green lane, suddenly swerved back out onto the bus lane, without signalling. I could see the driver in his mirror the entire time, and he made no effort to check and see if the lane was clear. In fact, it was not clear, as I was in it and would have been very visible to him if he had looked. It was only because of my particularly effective disc brakes that I was able to stop safely. If there had been a vehicle behind me, I would almost certainly have been hit. The bus was a first bus, I believe the X95, and with number
    plate XXXXX. In this instance, there was luckily no accident, and I am very glad I had not yet collected my daughter, as the sudden stop would have almost certainly scared her, and thrown her forward. I hope that you will take this opportunity to remind all your drivers of the importance of using their mirrors and ensuring that lanes are clear before they enter them.

    Posted 13 years ago #

  2. crowriver
    Member

    I hope you will be sending this to them! Quite scary when this happens. Most bus drivers are pretty good, but some are just inconsiderate...

    Posted 13 years ago #

  3. SRD
    Moderator

    already sent in. will let y'all know if I hear anything back.

    Posted 13 years ago #

  4. Min
    Member

    Glad you are both okay. Will be interesting to hear the response, First Bus are not reknowned for their interest in improving the standard of driving.

    Posted 13 years ago #

  5. kaputnik
    Moderator

    Potential hear for the next "urban driver". I hope anth's not huffing at me for putting a mini in my latest one :S

    Posted 13 years ago #

  6. SRD
    Moderator

    "Your contact has been entered into the customer contact system and escalated to the local operating depot for investigation. We do try and update or provide full responses within 14 days from the date we receive the contacts. However there is a backlog in the system and we anticipate an additional two week delay."

    one month to reply to a customer service complaint?

    Posted 13 years ago #

  7. chdot
    Admin

    "escalated" sounds good...

    Posted 13 years ago #

  8. kaputnik
    Moderator

    When I wrote to complain, Lothian Buses phoned me to apologise within 2 days of recieving my letter. I had a letter of apology within the week.

    The difference between the 2 companies is dramatic. I wonder which recieves more public subsidy. I know where my bet would lie...

    Posted 13 years ago #

  9. Morningsider
    Member

    Hi SRD - I would suggest you direct your complaint to:

    Joan Aitken
    Scottish Traffic Commissioner
    Level 6
    The Stamp Office
    10 Waterloo Place
    Edinburgh
    EH1 3EG

    email: Joan.AitkenATotc.gsi.gov.uk - replace AT with @

    Traffic Commissioners regulate bus operators and individual drivers.

    Make sure you mention that you are complaining about the driver's poor driving and that you are not satisfied that First Bus takes this issue seriously. I am almost certain the Commissioner will not be able to do anything much about this - but First will hate the fact that a complaint has been sent to the regulator, also it may help build a cumulative picture of poor performance by First that could result in them being called-in to explain themselves.

    Posted 13 years ago #

  10. kaputnik
    Moderator

    customer contact system

    Point out to them you're not a customer. You have a bike and don't need to use their shoddy service!

    Posted 13 years ago #

  11. Arellcat
    Moderator

    "However there is a backlog in the [customer contact] system..."

    This is First Bus, after all. Perhaps the system has become inundated with correspondence from people saying how pleased they are with the service.

    Posted 13 years ago #

  12. holisticglint
    Member

    In an unusual case of karmic balance the X95 First bus I was on today had a car crash into it in exactly the same scenario as you describe - car driver failing entirely to notice a wacking great bus when pulling away from the curb.

    Scary thing is that the route is exactly the one I usually cycle on past the same row of parked cars and if the drivers can't see a bus coming I don't think my day glow jacket is going to help much either...

    Posted 13 years ago #

  13. SRD
    Moderator

    if only it was the same driver! hope all okay.

    Posted 13 years ago #

  14. SRD
    Moderator

    Still no reply! Have now taken morningsider's advice and written the traffic commissioner as well.

    Posted 13 years ago #

  15. Baldcyclist
    Member

    This chap (@magnatom on twitter) has a meeting with First Bus sometime soon regarding a cycling/bus incident and possible driver awareness training:
    http://www.magnatom.net/2011/05/letter-to-first-glasgow.html

    Posted 13 years ago #

  16. SRD
    Moderator

    well, this is a good reply:

    "Many thanks for your recent E-Mail addressed to the Traffic Commissioner who has asked me to reply on her behalf.

    The Commissioner is concerned at the incident that you have described and will be contacting the company direct. The X95 Service is operated by Midland Bluebird Ltd, part of First Group. The Traffic Commissioner will be asking that the Managing Director makes contact with you in the near future.

    The Traffic Commissioner has asked me to thank you for bringing this matter to her attention."

    Posted 13 years ago #

  17. Min
    Member

    Maybe Firstbus just get so many complaints they have stopped replying??

    Posted 13 years ago #

  18. kaputnik
    Moderator

    Maybe we should sue for wrongful use of the word "first"?

    Posted 13 years ago #

  19. SRD
    Moderator

    First bus claims they did send me a reply about a week later - I didn't receive it, but VOSA has forwarded me a copy. Quite reasonable. Says all the right things about road safety. and that although they don't have cctv, they identified and interviewed the driver and that they carry out covert checks after such incidents.

    Posted 13 years ago #

  20. Wilmington's Cow
    Member

    We'll see if my video gets anything back.

    Posted 13 years ago #

  21. Tulyar
    Member

    Midland Bluebird - Has the N&P registration never changed in 30 years? Services are operated by First East of Scotland (or Lothian and Borders) - MD Paul Thomas Registered Offices in Camelon (half way to Larbert) full address (by law) has to be readable from kerb on n/s of bus. (some less good operators rather stretch this with small lettering and paper labels stuck on bus windows)

    X95 operated by buses from Galashiels on A7 route Carlisle-Edinburgh.

    New buses likely to appear on 62 and 95 with Borders Council initiative. Current fleet increasingly have CCTV but you have to act fast as systems overwrite every 7-14 days. The Wrights single deck buses have a fisheye camera visible inside front screen at bottom and others looking at front platform/driver etc.

    If you are hit OR FORCED TO CRASH by the PRESENCE of a vehicle you can require details (Section 170 RTA/RSA) and many bus operators provide drivers with a Section 170 card, which avoids the risk of a big stushie and a bus fu o folk.

    Discussing the restoration of cycle carriage to routes like 62 (used to carry up to 4 bikes on 49 seater bus) but this is developing quietly - perhaps with new buses it will be easier to deliver, especially as Cumbria has a successful LSTF bid that includes cycle carriage on bus services - might get us to Longtown?

    By way of a taster - if you could use the bus from Penicuik/Gorebridge (where it gets less busy) would that make it a practical option to reach the Tweed Valley?

    Posted 13 years ago #

  22. Tulyar
    Member

    Small post-thought

    If you have a portfolio investment in shares - check it out. You might find that you are as a consequence, a shareholder of First Group, and thus entitled to write, not as a customer or member of the public, but a shareholder.

    Posted 13 years ago #

  23. pjmatthews
    Member

    Picking up on this now. I've repeated run-ins with First Bus. Can we do something about them? I've just sent this:

    Hi,

    I am a very confident experienced cyclist. This morning on the westbound Calder Road in Edinburgh I have never been so terrified in my entire time cycling in Edinburgh.

    The driver of your number 28 service at around 8:20 am, along the length of Calder Road was, I can only presume, actually trying to kill me. At Stenhouse I was in the primary position on the road. The driver overtook me, leaving barely a metre gap and started pulling the bus in as it was passing me, forcing me into the curb. On the next section of road he repeated this manoeuvre.

    As my journey progressed I was forced to cycle defensively (i.e. in the middle of the bus lane) just to prevent the driver overtaking me. On the final section or road up to the bypass he overtook me, while I was weaving around potholes, again leaving barely a metre gap and again, pulled in as the bus was passing me, forcing me into the side of the road.

    At no point was he willing to give way to me, give me the recommended 1.5 metre gap when overtaking or pull into the outside lane to overtake.

    This is not the first time I have reported one of your drivers, and indeed the same thing happened with the same service last Wednesday. In Edinburgh, when I am cycling around a Lothian Bus I feel very safe and confident. When I see a First Bus I am terrified as I know the driver will treat me in this way.

    If this continues I will report First Bus to the City of Edinburgh Council, Police Scotland and the Scottish Transport Commissioner.

    Yours....

    Posted 10 years ago #

  24. steveo
    Member

    I'd be inclined to go over their head straight to the transport commissioner, they clearly have a culture of bad driving which they are unwilling to address. Probably an inferiority complex having been rejected by LB.

    Posted 10 years ago #

  25. cc
    Member

    And the police. That driver isn't fit to drive.

    Posted 10 years ago #

  26. kaputnik
    Moderator

    I feel fortunate that my usual commute routes don't seem to coincide with Worstbus routes for more than a few hundred metres on Gorgie Road.

    Posted 10 years ago #

  27. Darkerside
    Member

    Ditto with the go straight to Police on that one.

    If it all gets too much, come over to Glasgow to experience the City Sprinters. Make First bus drivers seem like angels.

    Although come quickly, as they're in the process of losing their license...

    Posted 10 years ago #

  28. Marshant
    Member

    I had two similar experiences with FirstBus over the last two days in Polmont -- both times where they refused to yield to me when I had right of way whilst navigating around an obstruction (traffic calming island). I wrote to First but didn't receive a reply. So it's not even an Edinburgh thing, they don't even get training out in the suburbs where there's tons of space/opportunity to pass safely, they just choose not to.

    Who *is* the best office to contact, to mandate FirstBus drivers to undergo, at a minimum, the same training as LothianBuses drivers? I have had only one bad experience with a Lothian bus in the years I've been cycling in Edinburgh.

    Posted 10 years ago #

  29. kaputnik
    Moderator

    Who *is* the best office to contact, to mandate FirstBus drivers to undergo, at a minimum, the same training as LothianBuses drivers?

    Apparently not to Transport Scotland or one of the other official regulatory bodies, unless you were a passenger on said bus.

    http://www.transportscotland.gov.uk/public-transport/PVS/bus-complaints

    Posted 10 years ago #

  30. minus six
    Member

    I had a run-in with First Bus service 43 this morning -- and certainly not for the first time, the driver had no interest in keeping a reasonable width on his overtake.

    Today I tried a new strategy. When I caught up with the bus, as does invariably happen, I offered the guy a straight choice. He could put his hand up to me man to man and admit his driving was at that moment substandard. or, I could report the incident to his supervisors.

    So the guy quickly made the calculation (as Sean Kelly would say) and put his hand up to it and apologised.

    Of course if the reply had been non-commital or belligerent, I'd have reported him, for all the good it would have done. But I like to think that next time, the driver might be more wary of close passing a slow moving "obstacle", as it might well reappear later demanding remedy.

    Posted 10 years ago #

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