(08 Nov 2022, 10:43 pm)logidoodah wrote Oh well lucky you, you have an alternative!
Not everyone has a car, or even has access to one. Some people can't drive for medical reasons, some can't afford to take lessons let alone petrol. This is a Cost of Living Crisis, from what I gather they were talking about why should people have to wait that long! Especially in Dirty dodgy bus stations or in the middle of nowhere. There should be contingency plans in place not just a half arsed apology on social media, which arguably affects vulnerable people the most - which may exclude them even more.
Also if you tell people to 'take it out on the operators' what are they supposed to do?
- Boycott the services? (which leads to routes being permanently withdrawn)
- Block Roads? (which disrupts everyone and leads to services being cut short or cancelled)
- Damage Buses? (services get taken away from areas and people become criminals?)
The reality is that they drivers "represent" the companies they work for (even if they are repulsed by working standards/pay/hours etc....), therefore they get the brunt of it, everyday, every shift.
Those at the top (making those decisions) drive cars and don't have anything to do with public transport other than make decisions that affect Thousands of people everyday! Yet they blame COVID and Putin for their legacy of decisions which had led us to here and now. In my opinion it was always going to go this way just COVID made people see (with Skeleton services and over working employees), and Putin only furthers those 'good' decisions because of the price of fuel.
One thing I liked about MG was that he did, and still does, actually use public transport.
IIRC, when he joined GNE he got rid of his car.
Maybe that's why he seemed to care so much about the passenger experience on board, rather than having the 'bus is a bus' mentality that a lot of other operators, and people on here seem to have.