(05 Jun 2014, 6:57 pm)aureolin wrote See them or use the bus they're driving? I quite often see familiar drivers out and about when I'm out for photos or a ride about, but when I use the same services day in day out, it's rare I'll see the same driver more than once every couple of weeks. This was the case when I used exactly the same 21 there and back every day, and 'tis also the same now that I use the X1 and 56 every day.
Thinking about the numbers that citaro5284 provided a while back by depot, and the way my mate's shifts seem to fluctuate, I'd say it's rare as a commuter that you'd *often* see the same driver. I find that commuters travel patterns rarely change, and I can almost predict who's getting on the X1 at each stop on a morning.
The only exception I can think would be drivers on EU rules? Don't X9/X10 drivers work compressed hours with almost static shifts and rest days for example? It probably explains why I recall the last time someone winning being an X10 driver. Trish someone?
Not long after the 2006 changes; timetables and literature mentioned that the branded routes would work like a local bus company.
The idea was, that drivers would be allocated to a brand and passengers would get to know them.
It didn't last long and the wording was quietly dropped from the timetables and advertising literature.
I can't see the merging of units, helping grow the relationship between both drivers and passengers.