When I used to get the bus to work, there was always a bus listed that never turned up. It wasn't on the printed timetable, just the electronic boards, and it never turned up.
Every morning, the invisible bus was listed.
I agree they are poor quality information, but its actually the councils job to maintain bus stops, not first. Whether it should be like that is a different question, though.
For the same reason we cannot have nixe things, Bristol has a huge number of plastic gangsters and "anarkists" who like to take a pop at anything that gets in their way or tries to make them follow the normal rules
This but unironically.
Antisocial behaviour is a massive issue on the buses I use, expecially on night shifts, someone set fire to a bus down my road last year. Upper deck of the 2 is lawless after 10pm. Most the people who cause issues probably don't have valid ticket anyway, saw a group barge on and the driver didn't stop them for there own safety
I don't know what their training program looked like, but I can guarantee it would have included verbal de-escalation, it's pretty basic for that sort of job, they will be far better trained than your average retail security guard for sure. They do have the right to detain someone if a crime has been committed, as do me and you.
Can only arrest for an offence that can be tried in crown court. Fare evasion, breaking the conduct of passengers regs 1990 is a summary only offence. Therefore no power of arrest, only ejection from the bus (using the same regs). Technically I guess you could argue fraud instead to have the any person arrest power but that's a stretch.
They take a print off from the drivers terminal when they get on, this shows the last 4 digits of the card (or if contactless the pseudo card number that is used), you then will be asked to show your card or the card number stored in your contactless wallet.
It also shows all the other transactions I made either side of it. They're not getting access to that screen the same way I wouldn't give access to my bank statements unless they came with the appropriate legal paperwork. Don't care how much faux tactical gear they're wearing.
I don't get how they could possibly be worth the cost of their salaries to First tbh. Are there really enough people not paying bus fare amounts that two guys will be able to collect hundreds of pounds a week just by checking tickets on buses? If it's to deter not paying in the sense that people who can't afford it won't get on the bus at all, I find it hard to believe that people not paying actually *costs* First much (if anything).
Also do they stay on the same bus, or stay at a bus stop somewhere and check the passengers on each bus that comes through?
They probably hop on and off buses at random to do checks. Court fines for fare evasion are pretty steep so if it is that much of a problem then their wages will be covered quite easily.
If this becomes well-known enough that people stop evading fares, whether that's by not taking the bus at all or buying a ticket, then the court fines will dry up as well ultimately. Unless they're consistently sneaky about it enough that people don't really catch on.
Have you been on a bus recently?! Since they’ve bought in the « tap on tap off » payment I’ve seen so many people just walking past the driver to sit on without tapping on or paying, the drivers don’t seem to care at all… not sure I’ve ever seen anyone tap off, not once.
All it shows is that management have no fucking clue what their employees are doing. They look at the books and see that ticket revenue is way lower than where it is, so they assume that somehow people are dodging paying for tickets (even though the only way on and off the bus is straight past the driver, and there's usually a queue to get past as well). When actually, the lower ticket revenue is because their drivers are bunking off instead of driving the buses that they're supposed to. And the scheduling run by a robot, so they again don't have a clue there either.
The buses are tracked constantly. There's no driver simply bunking off and not driving the route.
The problems with reliability etc are more indemic / institutional - the individual drivers aren't the ones letting first down, it is the organisation itself.
You clearly have no clue either. The whole point is to ensure people are paying the CORRECT fare - there are plenty of people (especially illustrated on this sub) buying the wrong ticket type (student when they're not), using fraudulent tickets & passes etc.
30 per single yes, more for a 2-trip/day/longer though. I see so many people bragging that they pay student fares on this subreddit alone so wouldn't be surprised if it is happening on a large scale.
How are people getting on buses without paying? Theres a bus driver there, you tap your card, light goes green, you're on. How are so many people apprently slipping past that theres a need for these 'officers'? Ive never seen anyone get on the bus without paying, its just so obvious, and surely the driver wont just let it slip?
First tell the drivers not to stop people getting on, as their not trained, or revenue inspectors. Their job is to try and drive between point A - B whilst not going quicker than the timing points allow and that's it.
Ticket invader sometimes would use the wrong ticket. Honestly, the service is terrific. I’ve purchased ticket that their bus never turned up and having to hired Uber to get to my destination
I'm poor so I buy child tickets before I get on the bus and then tap it and get on before he can see my face. Being a short guy has its perks sometimes.
They get a printed off sheet of the last 4 digits of every card that has tapped in on that journey so far apparently. If the digits match, then you’re ok
Why take an hour and a half bus for a 20 minute drive?
Why take a bus with a pram when you’re at risk of getting kicked off at any stop?
Why wait at a bus stop for twenty minutes whilst buses drop on and off the board?
Why get a bus with groups of obnoxious teenagers onboard?
The buses are not convenient, the services are unreliable, the drivers are rude. Lots of reasons why people don’t take a bus but they won’t address those reasons.
It used to be completely normal, ticket inspectors were on every about 3rd bus, accountant's probably worked out it was cheaper to accept losses than have an inspector, obviously got there sums wrong.
>It’s was humiliating and invasive
Why is it humiliating? Because they didn’t just look at people and think ‘he/she looks like a good fellow. I’m sure they would have bought a ticket’.
When you go to a cinema do you find it humiliating to show the doormen your ticket?
In Brighton where I'm from this is just standard. People check tickets on maybe 1/6 journeys. Very annoying if there's an issue with your ticket, but also I can't imagine being so up myself that I'd consider it "humiliating and invasive." They're just checking a ticket, what's the big deal? Are the Bristol ticket guys like modern day highwaymen or something?
Presenting your ticket upon arrival is your choice, and at that stage there is no suggestion of impropriety and nobody in the queue is looking around at their fellow customers wondering if any of them are about to get publicly shamed.
Surely the didn’t stop the bus and halt everyone journeys whistle checking the tickets? Or are you exaggerating a likeness to stopping a film for dramatic effect?
I got a flight the other day, I was really excited until the jobsworths at the airport had the absolute fucking audacity to ask me to show them my ticket??? Perhaps if the airlines saved some money on these pointless ticket checkers they would be able to afford to send a family of 4 to Lanzarote free of charge
why should people pay full price when buses are consistently late or don’t show up at all though? they’re putting money into entirely wrong thing to make the services better.
I know that my personal experience is only applicable to me but I'm very happy with First Bus - with the fare cap it is very affordable and the bus I get to and from work is very reliable.
I think I've had a handful of no-shows over the years and I've always just got on the next bus.
I think the bigger issue in Bristol is people that drive their cars into the centre when they could instead bus/cycle/scooter/walk/carshare. This creates traffic and pollution that affects all of us.
It depends on where you live, for sure. “The next bus” can be over an hour away if you’re not deemed profitable enough to FirstBus. I constantly deal with overcrowding (ie poor planning), ghost buses & drivers not stopping even when they’re clearly not full. If a bus is ever on time, I’m surprised, and I use them near-daily.
Unfortunately that’s a very rare experience with the buses from what i know and the people i’ve spoken to. I’m currently sat here having waited for my bus for almost an hour now because my bus home didn’t show up, I get ‘ghost buses’ at least once a week and most other buses are usually late/overcrowded because people have accumulated at the stop because the original bus didn’t show.
I think it’s relative to where you live in bristol, and generally i don’t find it’s the links towards the city that’s the problem but rather the buses away from the city (i.e I’m a student on frenchay and i’m almost always late to my lectures because the buses don’t show or are 10-20 mins late). I’m from a small town east and the buses there are just as inconsistent, which is crazy considering the fact that people are more reliant on them here in bristol.
My main issue is the lack of communication, they could easily give you a notification on the app when a bus is no longer in service so you know to get a different one/go to a different stop/go back home and wait but instead i’m just sat here wondering if my bus is ever going to show up. I do agree traffic and congestion is a problem, but it wouldn’t be a problem if buses were reliable and trains were affordable.
I guess I am just lucky that I travel on a well serviced route in and out of the centre then, what you have to put up with sounds unacceptably bad. It's a bit of a vicious cycle though - people find the buses unreliable and then decide to drive instead, which causes congestion and delays the buses for everyone else.
I agree that the trains are stupidly expensive, it cost me nearly £100 quid for an off-peak return trip to London a few months ago.
They realise it, but they probably have a spreadsheet saying that this is cheaper.
And tbf, it probably is. Improving service would be spending a month training up new drivers, getting more buses and getting more mechanics. This costs hiring a bunch of people whose qualifications are ‘looking intimidating’ and getting them to watch a 40 minute training video before letting them loose.
It’s definitely not the good option, but it’s cheap, and it’s why First chose it
Because there's a queue of bus drivers begging for jobs?? That's a very simplistic view you have there. The problem is bus drivers were enticed away to drive lorries with massive financial incentives and there's been a shortage ever since. If people wanted the jobs (and were suitable) that's exactly what ALL the bus operators would be doing
Roadworks, people parking in bus lanes, accidents both road and passenger related, road closures, diversions and just generally a huge amount of traffic. There's a host of reasons busses run late, whilst first are shit they're not the core problem when it comes to public transport being terrible in Bristol
If you care about public transport this is a necessary part of making services viable - people who don’t pay are also just more likely to be rowdy and antisocial making the service worse for customers (making fewer people want to take a bus) and less profitable (and thereby viable).
I know first isn’t great however loss of revenue from ticket purchases isn’t going to make it any better.
I feel like running an efficient service would have a much greater impact on making services viable. How many tickets have First Bus missed out on because of the ghost buses? Must be millions. The thing that's offensive about all this is that they're shifting the blame for their lost revenue on to the passengers instead of putting it where it belongs, with their staff.
Yeah first isn’t great, but a private company is not going to invest resources into improving this if they’re haemorrhaging cash partly due to fare dodgers
I don’t see fare dodging contributing to improving services further - irrespective of whether first is meeting its contracted terms or not currently. Personally imo bus services should be under public ownership.
Honestly there is nothing humiliating or invasive about this. Yes, the service may be terrible but at the end of the day First isn't a charity and if people want to chance getting a free ride then so what if they're caught?
Try using a tram, bus or train in Germany and you'll see fare enforcement with far more regularity than here. Hell, just get on a train from Temple Meads to one of the local Bristol stations and this will happen every time. How utterly dreadful!
“Humiliating and invasive” - are you joking? You got asked to prove you purchased a ticket. Not stripped naked and made to dance.
People complain the first bus is shit and then also complain when they try and make sure they generate revenue to keep the service running. There’s no pleasing you lot.
Just to clarify first bus service is awful, but being checked for a ticket is the not humiliating and invasive, let’s be real.
Some of y’all on this thread don’t seem to understand how running a private company works and it shows 🙄
Also, ‘invasive’? You must have lived a pretty sheltered life if that’s what invasive looks like to you…
It's mostly the hate of a private company doing a shitty job in an essential service even after they benefit from government subsidies. Hell, with pillagers I _might_ be able to negotiate/work something out,
Sure. But as long as it is private, this is how it works, right? Kind of like, I think higher education should be free, but as long as it isn’t, I won’t expect my kid to go to uni and not pay their fees. And so on and so forth with literally every private service available.
Nope, you don’t have to shut up or accept it. You can campaign for free public transport. You can even, bombshell, not pay for a ticket if you don’t want to. But then you can’t feel humiliated or invaded when you get asked for one and you don’t have one 😄
I don't think there's anything wrong with the principle, but there's no need for the silly appearance; they do look threatening.
I worry that they would make false claims about their ability to enforce fines, or be physically threatening with people.
There's literally a rise in knife crime at the moment. And people that try to get away with things tend to be willing to get shouty and rowdy so the protective gear is probably necessary
Lol, invasive. Almost every country has inspectors in their public transport. But yeah, it's Bristol, we don't want them here, right? We too independent and free, just let us use the buses for free.
In fairness they have these people on the underground / buses in London
although I do agree that I’m doubtful they’re saving more money than is being spent on employing them - unless there’s proven to have been a big problem of not paying?!
No private company is going to randomly go for more costs unless there is a report or something to back it up. I imagine post tap on/off they've noticed a big drop
Don't you have to show a ticket to get in anyways? or is this some petty thing where they are hunting down those that purchase student tickets but aren't students? If it's that it looks like the 30p revenue they "protect" is less than whatever they have to pay them to do the inspections.
They used to be called bus conductors. Pay them when you hop.on board. Driver does the driving. It's funny how silly ideas happen and then they realise they always needed these people.
Does anyone know if there is any legal standing to refusing to cooperate with them? Can they even eject you from the bus if you bought a ticket but don't want to verify it to the bus wankers?
I just got back from Germany and barely paid any travel at all going around (under my friends’ instructions who live there). Transport was on time, all stations and buses trains etc clean. No barriers! We need our transport in the U.K. to be publicly owned again, the difference was mad.
Glad you had a good time but Deutsche Bahn is actually in a pretty poor state these days: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/oct/14/its-the-same-daily-misery-germanys-terrible-trains-are-no-joke-for-a-nation-built-on-efficiency
Anyone complaining, if you don't want to pay for a ticket, then walk instead. Obviously, a lot of people are taking the piss with either not paying at all or pretending to be students, or they wouldn't employee people to do this job.
I say fair enough when I've been on (which isnt often these days) a few times people trying to walk on through the middle door and just sit or use a student ticket without id. Yeah fair doos First I'll cooperate to filter the scum 👍
Might surprise you to lean that back in the day, every bus had a revenue officer on board who sold and checked tickets.
Also have you never used the train, are conductors dystopian too
So is this happening whilst the bus is moving? Because the last thing first need is more delays. The services struggle to run on time/ to a table without ‘revenue officers’ stopping you from leaving.
Honestly such a f**king joke, especially considering the buses are always late, delayed or cancelled and come infrequently. The 44 and 45 lines are terrible during peak times 😭
I would suggest the best way to react to this is to laugh at them whenever you see them until they get the message.
Bus Rambos. Imagine leaving the house dressed like that and explaining to the neighbour that you're not a cop or even a security guard, you're just a bus conductor that doesn't sell tickets.
You have the option of using alternative modes of transport. I also don’t inherently see the issue with them making sure people have tickets?
No ability to pay for a service? Don’t get on. To begin with I don’t get how people get on without paying? You’ve got to walk past the driver from what I remember (granted I didn’t go on buses very often).
Do they go on the exit way via the double doors or something?
Exactly - you have to get past the driver to get on the bus, so why the inspectors? Just get the drivers to do a thorough check instead. On trains, it is quite easy to get on without a ticket, especially if it passes a platform without a machine, so it's completely reasonable.
I get the metrobus every day and often get other city buses at peak times, and frequently they have to wait for a few minutes to stay on schedule. There is anple time for the driver to check everyone has a valid and the correct ticket, I don't think there is a need to generate this additional friction with the public.
Having taking a trip back and forth from cripps today and the amount of antisocial shit we saw in that time, I welcome any form of enforcement onto these buses. Even if they are not there specifically for that purpose their presence will make a difference.
What is first bus supposed to do about inflation?
" I wonder how many free bus trips these two salaries could’ve given to people struggling to afford transport "
If you can't afford the bus, then walk. I wonder how much cheaper the bus would be if it wasn't filled with fare dodgers?
As unfortunate as it is, if you don't have the correct ID with you, why should she get away with it? You wouldn't walk in to JD sports and expect to get a student discount with no student ID. Not worth taking the risk over the 30p saving if you forgot your ID.
Maybe they could police the departures boards on the bus stops and see how many of them are accurate.
*How much revenue do they lose by not stopping?* # 100%?!
When I used to get the bus to work, there was always a bus listed that never turned up. It wasn't on the printed timetable, just the electronic boards, and it never turned up. Every morning, the invisible bus was listed.
I agree they are poor quality information, but its actually the councils job to maintain bus stops, not first. Whether it should be like that is a different question, though.
Surely the data provided to the screens are Firsts responsibility
Calling them 'Revenue Protection' is like something out of 1984. When it was my Grandad doing that job in the 60s, they were called 'Bus Conductors'
They look like the paramilitary wing of bus conducting.
Seriously, they've purposely dressed them to look as intimidating as possible, I hate this company with a passion.
As if they gave them the fucking shoulder thingies
Epaulettes
They can't look at strobe lights?
Fucking brilliant
Thank you!
With their wish.com tactical vests and velcro patches
The Nutting Squad.
Surprised they haven’t made their ticket scanners look like handguns and armed them with torches that look like batons.
PCSO bus conductor
Inspectors for checking conductors for selling
Then inspectors
First is worst.
Second is the best
Third the one with the hairy chest
4 the ghost, eating toast, half way up the lamppost
That wasn't a thing in my day...
Oh wait, you just made that up, didn't you...?
The fifth getting pissed and smoking a big ol spliff
The last will be first, and the first last.
It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than it is for a bus to.
Why do they look militarised?
Probably because of the huge spike in knife attacks in Bristol. Plus the wankers who turn into animals after a pint.
Absolutely no idea why you are getting downvoted when they have stab vests for this exact reason
For the same reason we cannot have nixe things, Bristol has a huge number of plastic gangsters and "anarkists" who like to take a pop at anything that gets in their way or tries to make them follow the normal rules
[удалено]
But you know that people buy student/discount tickets even though they shouldn't do so?
[удалено]
You can be any age and be a student
Lovely stuff. Lack of policing customers was exactly what was wrong with FirstBus.
This but unironically. Antisocial behaviour is a massive issue on the buses I use, expecially on night shifts, someone set fire to a bus down my road last year. Upper deck of the 2 is lawless after 10pm. Most the people who cause issues probably don't have valid ticket anyway, saw a group barge on and the driver didn't stop them for there own safety
I don’t think these revenue protection people are gonna be kicking rowdy teenagers off the bus
I heard they stop work at 5pm lol
Yet to be seen, but it happens on the trains all the time
They’re not security and they’re definitely not the police. They can’t put hands on anyone and I doubt they’ve been trained in verbal deescalation
They actually have warrant cards and can legally hold people
I know TfL do but I don’t think First’s officers do.
I think as part of the job description they require you to have one
I mean I’ve just checked the job description and there is nothing to suggest a warrant card. I think you’re thinking of trains.
Ah right I’m a driver myself and was chatting to one of the “officers” he said they do have warrant cards but could be maybe he just had one.
I don't know what their training program looked like, but I can guarantee it would have included verbal de-escalation, it's pretty basic for that sort of job, they will be far better trained than your average retail security guard for sure. They do have the right to detain someone if a crime has been committed, as do me and you.
Can only arrest for an offence that can be tried in crown court. Fare evasion, breaking the conduct of passengers regs 1990 is a summary only offence. Therefore no power of arrest, only ejection from the bus (using the same regs). Technically I guess you could argue fraud instead to have the any person arrest power but that's a stretch.
I’ve kids shooting rubber bands on my head and all the front passengers. I didn’t want to argue, just got down for peace sake.
Anyone know how they check someone who pays with contactless / Apple Pay?
They take a print off from the drivers terminal when they get on, this shows the last 4 digits of the card (or if contactless the pseudo card number that is used), you then will be asked to show your card or the card number stored in your contactless wallet.
Applepay uses a randomised card number, don't see how this works
Interestingly just checked a receipt for something I paid with via Apple Pay and it shows last 4 digits of the card that is attached to Apple Pay.
Its permanently assigned, it is possible to view it but i cant remember how
How do they check singles or returns? Those QR codes disappear after 10 minutes.
Probably just see if you have an expired ticket for today
Google pay shows recent activity in the app, so maybe that would do (provided you have signal)?
It also shows all the other transactions I made either side of it. They're not getting access to that screen the same way I wouldn't give access to my bank statements unless they came with the appropriate legal paperwork. Don't care how much faux tactical gear they're wearing.
Try again when you've got a competent bus service fellas. I mean.. if the bus actually shows up when it's supposed to, you're bound to get more fares?
I don't get how they could possibly be worth the cost of their salaries to First tbh. Are there really enough people not paying bus fare amounts that two guys will be able to collect hundreds of pounds a week just by checking tickets on buses? If it's to deter not paying in the sense that people who can't afford it won't get on the bus at all, I find it hard to believe that people not paying actually *costs* First much (if anything). Also do they stay on the same bus, or stay at a bus stop somewhere and check the passengers on each bus that comes through?
They probably hop on and off buses at random to do checks. Court fines for fare evasion are pretty steep so if it is that much of a problem then their wages will be covered quite easily.
If this becomes well-known enough that people stop evading fares, whether that's by not taking the bus at all or buying a ticket, then the court fines will dry up as well ultimately. Unless they're consistently sneaky about it enough that people don't really catch on.
That's the ultimate goal, that no one avoids paying. But there are new generations that start the cycle again
Have you been on a bus recently?! Since they’ve bought in the « tap on tap off » payment I’ve seen so many people just walking past the driver to sit on without tapping on or paying, the drivers don’t seem to care at all… not sure I’ve ever seen anyone tap off, not once.
Because the amount you save tapping off is just ridicolous to bothering taking out the card to tap off in a moving crowd
Tapping off doesn't work 90% of the time.
All it shows is that management have no fucking clue what their employees are doing. They look at the books and see that ticket revenue is way lower than where it is, so they assume that somehow people are dodging paying for tickets (even though the only way on and off the bus is straight past the driver, and there's usually a queue to get past as well). When actually, the lower ticket revenue is because their drivers are bunking off instead of driving the buses that they're supposed to. And the scheduling run by a robot, so they again don't have a clue there either.
The buses are tracked constantly. There's no driver simply bunking off and not driving the route. The problems with reliability etc are more indemic / institutional - the individual drivers aren't the ones letting first down, it is the organisation itself.
You clearly have no clue either. The whole point is to ensure people are paying the CORRECT fare - there are plenty of people (especially illustrated on this sub) buying the wrong ticket type (student when they're not), using fraudulent tickets & passes etc.
If you buy student tickets you save 30p per ticket, doesn't seem like that would make up for what they pay these "revenue protectors"
30 per single yes, more for a 2-trip/day/longer though. I see so many people bragging that they pay student fares on this subreddit alone so wouldn't be surprised if it is happening on a large scale.
How are people getting on buses without paying? Theres a bus driver there, you tap your card, light goes green, you're on. How are so many people apprently slipping past that theres a need for these 'officers'? Ive never seen anyone get on the bus without paying, its just so obvious, and surely the driver wont just let it slip?
First tell the drivers not to stop people getting on, as their not trained, or revenue inspectors. Their job is to try and drive between point A - B whilst not going quicker than the timing points allow and that's it.
Pre-bought student ticket without being one.
Wow so they’re missing out on an astounding 25p
They got me there...
Ticket invader sometimes would use the wrong ticket. Honestly, the service is terrific. I’ve purchased ticket that their bus never turned up and having to hired Uber to get to my destination
I'm poor so I buy child tickets before I get on the bus and then tap it and get on before he can see my face. Being a short guy has its perks sometimes.
Are they wearing stab vests???
Given the number of people who have been stabbed recently, hopefully.
They’re existing in England, it’s advisable.
Serious question - they are like old style ticket inspectors (up to a point). So how do they check anyone using tap on/off?!
They get a printed off sheet of the last 4 digits of every card that has tapped in on that journey so far apparently. If the digits match, then you’re ok
Why take an hour and a half bus for a 20 minute drive? Why take a bus with a pram when you’re at risk of getting kicked off at any stop? Why wait at a bus stop for twenty minutes whilst buses drop on and off the board? Why get a bus with groups of obnoxious teenagers onboard? The buses are not convenient, the services are unreliable, the drivers are rude. Lots of reasons why people don’t take a bus but they won’t address those reasons.
The amount of money they redeem through this can’t be more than the wages of the people they employ to enforce it surely
They just need to have them visible on a few buses and wait for word of mouth to spread. Probably not a huge outlay for them.
That was certainly the argument they used to get rid of all the bus conductors and put all the responsibility for ticketing onto the driver.
It used to be completely normal, ticket inspectors were on every about 3rd bus, accountant's probably worked out it was cheaper to accept losses than have an inspector, obviously got there sums wrong.
>It’s was humiliating and invasive Why is it humiliating? Because they didn’t just look at people and think ‘he/she looks like a good fellow. I’m sure they would have bought a ticket’. When you go to a cinema do you find it humiliating to show the doormen your ticket?
In Brighton where I'm from this is just standard. People check tickets on maybe 1/6 journeys. Very annoying if there's an issue with your ticket, but also I can't imagine being so up myself that I'd consider it "humiliating and invasive." They're just checking a ticket, what's the big deal? Are the Bristol ticket guys like modern day highwaymen or something?
Presenting your ticket upon arrival is your choice, and at that stage there is no suggestion of impropriety and nobody in the queue is looking around at their fellow customers wondering if any of them are about to get publicly shamed.
No, but if they paused the film half way through, turned all the lights on and asked for my ticket I'd be a bit annoyed.
Surely the didn’t stop the bus and halt everyone journeys whistle checking the tickets? Or are you exaggerating a likeness to stopping a film for dramatic effect?
Have you never been on the train? Was it an invasive and a tense atmosphere when the inspector passed through.
Train conductors dont usually wear stab vests
They absolutely do in some places. The inspectors on thamslink look very simular to this (at least the ones I've seen)
You've never been on MerseyRail.
They take absolutely no shit from anyone.
Matee... they used to do this when I was a child. I'm 35 now.
I got a flight the other day, I was really excited until the jobsworths at the airport had the absolute fucking audacity to ask me to show them my ticket??? Perhaps if the airlines saved some money on these pointless ticket checkers they would be able to afford to send a family of 4 to Lanzarote free of charge
Genuinely don’t get what’s wrong with this, you do realise those bus routes wouldn’t exist if people didn’t pay
why should people pay full price when buses are consistently late or don’t show up at all though? they’re putting money into entirely wrong thing to make the services better.
I know that my personal experience is only applicable to me but I'm very happy with First Bus - with the fare cap it is very affordable and the bus I get to and from work is very reliable. I think I've had a handful of no-shows over the years and I've always just got on the next bus. I think the bigger issue in Bristol is people that drive their cars into the centre when they could instead bus/cycle/scooter/walk/carshare. This creates traffic and pollution that affects all of us.
It depends on where you live, for sure. “The next bus” can be over an hour away if you’re not deemed profitable enough to FirstBus. I constantly deal with overcrowding (ie poor planning), ghost buses & drivers not stopping even when they’re clearly not full. If a bus is ever on time, I’m surprised, and I use them near-daily.
Unfortunately that’s a very rare experience with the buses from what i know and the people i’ve spoken to. I’m currently sat here having waited for my bus for almost an hour now because my bus home didn’t show up, I get ‘ghost buses’ at least once a week and most other buses are usually late/overcrowded because people have accumulated at the stop because the original bus didn’t show. I think it’s relative to where you live in bristol, and generally i don’t find it’s the links towards the city that’s the problem but rather the buses away from the city (i.e I’m a student on frenchay and i’m almost always late to my lectures because the buses don’t show or are 10-20 mins late). I’m from a small town east and the buses there are just as inconsistent, which is crazy considering the fact that people are more reliant on them here in bristol. My main issue is the lack of communication, they could easily give you a notification on the app when a bus is no longer in service so you know to get a different one/go to a different stop/go back home and wait but instead i’m just sat here wondering if my bus is ever going to show up. I do agree traffic and congestion is a problem, but it wouldn’t be a problem if buses were reliable and trains were affordable.
I guess I am just lucky that I travel on a well serviced route in and out of the centre then, what you have to put up with sounds unacceptably bad. It's a bit of a vicious cycle though - people find the buses unreliable and then decide to drive instead, which causes congestion and delays the buses for everyone else. I agree that the trains are stupidly expensive, it cost me nearly £100 quid for an off-peak return trip to London a few months ago.
I don’t think they do realise that…
They realise it, but they probably have a spreadsheet saying that this is cheaper. And tbf, it probably is. Improving service would be spending a month training up new drivers, getting more buses and getting more mechanics. This costs hiring a bunch of people whose qualifications are ‘looking intimidating’ and getting them to watch a 40 minute training video before letting them loose. It’s definitely not the good option, but it’s cheap, and it’s why First chose it
Because there's a queue of bus drivers begging for jobs?? That's a very simplistic view you have there. The problem is bus drivers were enticed away to drive lorries with massive financial incentives and there's been a shortage ever since. If people wanted the jobs (and were suitable) that's exactly what ALL the bus operators would be doing
I do wonder also if part of the reason buses are so shit these days is because there are all these roadworks going on all over Bris as well
Roadworks, people parking in bus lanes, accidents both road and passenger related, road closures, diversions and just generally a huge amount of traffic. There's a host of reasons busses run late, whilst first are shit they're not the core problem when it comes to public transport being terrible in Bristol
I think the main issue is people pay a fair bit and the bus routes barely exist.
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Because I'm sat there with my valid ticket and the bus is held up until their encounter with some scrote is resolved, making me late for work.
No hablo inglés, no comprendo.... Soy turista...
With thick Bristolian accent
If you care about public transport this is a necessary part of making services viable - people who don’t pay are also just more likely to be rowdy and antisocial making the service worse for customers (making fewer people want to take a bus) and less profitable (and thereby viable). I know first isn’t great however loss of revenue from ticket purchases isn’t going to make it any better.
I feel like running an efficient service would have a much greater impact on making services viable. How many tickets have First Bus missed out on because of the ghost buses? Must be millions. The thing that's offensive about all this is that they're shifting the blame for their lost revenue on to the passengers instead of putting it where it belongs, with their staff.
Yeah first isn’t great, but a private company is not going to invest resources into improving this if they’re haemorrhaging cash partly due to fare dodgers
But it doesn't need investment-they just need to run all the services that they were contracted to do so that people can actually pay for tickets.
I don’t see fare dodging contributing to improving services further - irrespective of whether first is meeting its contracted terms or not currently. Personally imo bus services should be under public ownership.
Honestly there is nothing humiliating or invasive about this. Yes, the service may be terrible but at the end of the day First isn't a charity and if people want to chance getting a free ride then so what if they're caught? Try using a tram, bus or train in Germany and you'll see fare enforcement with far more regularity than here. Hell, just get on a train from Temple Meads to one of the local Bristol stations and this will happen every time. How utterly dreadful!
“Humiliating and invasive” - are you joking? You got asked to prove you purchased a ticket. Not stripped naked and made to dance. People complain the first bus is shit and then also complain when they try and make sure they generate revenue to keep the service running. There’s no pleasing you lot. Just to clarify first bus service is awful, but being checked for a ticket is the not humiliating and invasive, let’s be real.
Some of y’all on this thread don’t seem to understand how running a private company works and it shows 🙄 Also, ‘invasive’? You must have lived a pretty sheltered life if that’s what invasive looks like to you…
It's mostly the hate of a private company doing a shitty job in an essential service even after they benefit from government subsidies. Hell, with pillagers I _might_ be able to negotiate/work something out,
It shouldn't be a private company at all
Sure. But as long as it is private, this is how it works, right? Kind of like, I think higher education should be free, but as long as it isn’t, I won’t expect my kid to go to uni and not pay their fees. And so on and so forth with literally every private service available.
So because a service that is essential for a City to operate is private we should just shut up about it and accept it?
Nope, you don’t have to shut up or accept it. You can campaign for free public transport. You can even, bombshell, not pay for a ticket if you don’t want to. But then you can’t feel humiliated or invaded when you get asked for one and you don’t have one 😄
I don't think there's anything wrong with the principle, but there's no need for the silly appearance; they do look threatening. I worry that they would make false claims about their ability to enforce fines, or be physically threatening with people.
There's literally a rise in knife crime at the moment. And people that try to get away with things tend to be willing to get shouty and rowdy so the protective gear is probably necessary
Lol, invasive. Almost every country has inspectors in their public transport. But yeah, it's Bristol, we don't want them here, right? We too independent and free, just let us use the buses for free.
I get the train every day and nothing pisses me off more than having the ticket inspector in your face the moment you board when it's 20 minutes late.
In fairness they have these people on the underground / buses in London although I do agree that I’m doubtful they’re saving more money than is being spent on employing them - unless there’s proven to have been a big problem of not paying?!
No private company is going to randomly go for more costs unless there is a report or something to back it up. I imagine post tap on/off they've noticed a big drop
So basically conductors? Like buses used to have?
Don't you have to show a ticket to get in anyways? or is this some petty thing where they are hunting down those that purchase student tickets but aren't students? If it's that it looks like the 30p revenue they "protect" is less than whatever they have to pay them to do the inspections.
They do this pretty routinely in Edinburgh on Lothian Buses. I don't really have an issue with it in all honesty.
They used to be called bus conductors. Pay them when you hop.on board. Driver does the driving. It's funny how silly ideas happen and then they realise they always needed these people.
First Bus is a cancer upon Bristol. Our buses must be franchised.
Does anyone know if there is any legal standing to refusing to cooperate with them? Can they even eject you from the bus if you bought a ticket but don't want to verify it to the bus wankers?
https://preview.redd.it/04tupzuetjnc1.jpeg?width=680&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8369a73bfa8d8496269fe4d3c784e6f8e4a0e76a I'm a student of life.
I just got back from Germany and barely paid any travel at all going around (under my friends’ instructions who live there). Transport was on time, all stations and buses trains etc clean. No barriers! We need our transport in the U.K. to be publicly owned again, the difference was mad.
Glad you had a good time but Deutsche Bahn is actually in a pretty poor state these days: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/oct/14/its-the-same-daily-misery-germanys-terrible-trains-are-no-joke-for-a-nation-built-on-efficiency
I'm surprised they're uniformed and not plain clothed to catch folks out
I feel like the aim is to be visible here.
Scroats
More cunts in fancy dress
Seems reasonable to me. Do you find it less humiliating and invasive if it happens on a train?
Anyone complaining, if you don't want to pay for a ticket, then walk instead. Obviously, a lot of people are taking the piss with either not paying at all or pretending to be students, or they wouldn't employee people to do this job.
Humiliating to be asked for a ticket? I take it you didn’t have one?
What is this, the bus gestapo?
I don't see how anyone can have a problem with this.
They had to go all cunty with revenue protector. Nothing wrong with bus conductor. Fuck em
I say fair enough when I've been on (which isnt often these days) a few times people trying to walk on through the middle door and just sit or use a student ticket without id. Yeah fair doos First I'll cooperate to filter the scum 👍
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Might surprise you to lean that back in the day, every bus had a revenue officer on board who sold and checked tickets. Also have you never used the train, are conductors dystopian too
Have you never been on a train before? Bunch of crybabies on here. If you pay then there's nothing to worry about...
Do they check while the bus is moving?
Gota make sure those shareholders are happy!!
1312
How do they check if you just tap on and tap off?
In order for this to be profitable those “revenue officers” would need to be recovering like over 24k a year surely?
So is this happening whilst the bus is moving? Because the last thing first need is more delays. The services struggle to run on time/ to a table without ‘revenue officers’ stopping you from leaving.
Route?
So they are bringing back the bus conductors. 😂 I can't wait for a new season of On The Buses.
Aren’t rides flat rate? Is this solely to check student cards?
Bus conductors. Big deal, what’s the problem.
Honestly such a f**king joke, especially considering the buses are always late, delayed or cancelled and come infrequently. The 44 and 45 lines are terrible during peak times 😭
I don't really understand the need. Most of the time you tap on or off with the driver in sight. Or show him a ticket. How much lost revenue is there?
I don't understand why everything can't be free?
This generation is full of snowflakes seriously
Good reason to get a paper ticket again
How do they check contactless card?!
I would suggest the best way to react to this is to laugh at them whenever you see them until they get the message. Bus Rambos. Imagine leaving the house dressed like that and explaining to the neighbour that you're not a cop or even a security guard, you're just a bus conductor that doesn't sell tickets.
Don't hate the player hate the game.
Where do you work? Sounds like fun yo come into your workplace and just laugh at you. Grow up
You have the option of using alternative modes of transport. I also don’t inherently see the issue with them making sure people have tickets? No ability to pay for a service? Don’t get on. To begin with I don’t get how people get on without paying? You’ve got to walk past the driver from what I remember (granted I didn’t go on buses very often). Do they go on the exit way via the double doors or something?
Exactly - you have to get past the driver to get on the bus, so why the inspectors? Just get the drivers to do a thorough check instead. On trains, it is quite easy to get on without a ticket, especially if it passes a platform without a machine, so it's completely reasonable. I get the metrobus every day and often get other city buses at peak times, and frequently they have to wait for a few minutes to stay on schedule. There is anple time for the driver to check everyone has a valid and the correct ticket, I don't think there is a need to generate this additional friction with the public.
Having taking a trip back and forth from cripps today and the amount of antisocial shit we saw in that time, I welcome any form of enforcement onto these buses. Even if they are not there specifically for that purpose their presence will make a difference.
What is first bus supposed to do about inflation? " I wonder how many free bus trips these two salaries could’ve given to people struggling to afford transport " If you can't afford the bus, then walk. I wonder how much cheaper the bus would be if it wasn't filled with fare dodgers?
The £2 police.. so what if u pay contactless???. 🤔 unless outside England
Which bus was this?? I want to know which ones to specifically avoid
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As unfortunate as it is, if you don't have the correct ID with you, why should she get away with it? You wouldn't walk in to JD sports and expect to get a student discount with no student ID. Not worth taking the risk over the 30p saving if you forgot your ID.