(19 Apr 2014, 7:55 am)Dan wrote They work on a voluntary basis as far as I'm aware but those driving the vehicles are still representing the company. Those who brought vehicles along (Arriva drivers included) had to wear uniform - so why should drivers who didn't bring vehicles along be allowed to drive buses without their uniform on?

It's the company's decision at the end of the day. It really doesn't bother me in the slightest and I have my doubts whether most members of the public either: a) notice; or b) care; although I accept that there might be a few that do.

I once went to a GNE recruitment day held at Gateshead Stadium back in 2004. It was an open event and anyone with a valid driving licence could come along and have a go at driving the buses. I went and had a go at driving an MPD around the car park with supervision (someone called Jeff, IIRC) - it was my first experience of driving an automatic vehicle of any type. Were GNE wrong to let me do this? And how is this any different to letting fully trained drivers having a go of vehicles around the Coach Park? You can cite the 'driver familiarisation' argument for any type of vehicle - it's not exclusive to buses. Driving a Vauxhall Vectra is slightly different from driving a Seat Ibiza or a Rover Streetwise and there's even more variety amongst vans. However, the basic operation remains the same (gears, pedals, indicators, driving wheel) and I suspect the same applies to buses.