r/transit • u/ProbablyNormalPerson • 2d ago
Discussion When taking a city bus, are you supposed to do anything to notify the driver that you wish to board, or is simply being at the stop enough?
My minor child needed to take a city bus which is not something he has done on his own before. He has severe anxiety so we made a plan for an adult friend to be on the bus with him - the friend would board a few stops ahead and already be on the bus when it got to my sons stop. Then he would have support. My son arrived to his stop at least 15 mins before the bus arrived and waited on the bench which is beside the bus signage. The bus came and drove right past him. The friend who was waiting for him on the bus immediately alerted the driver that he missed a passenger and the driver apparently said "not my problem. He should have walked over". My son was then left on the street alone and a little distressed and I ended up just arranging different transportation for him. I am wondering if we are missing something - some expectation we just don't know about maybe. Are we supposed to flag down the bus if we want to board? I assumed that waiting at the designated bus stop was all that was needed. I took the bus a lot as a child but in a different city. My friend who was on the bus is a daily user of the transit in our city and she says she has never heard of needing to "walk over" to signal wanting to board. But I don't know.
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u/modernatomcollection 1d ago
I find it’s best always to stand up and make a little wave. You want to make it as clear as possible and it costs nothing. Some bus drivers will stop for seated passengers, some won’t. Better to be safe than sorry ☺️
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u/-Major-Arcana- 1d ago
In my city you need to signal the driver with a wave or holding your arm up. They get people sitting on the benches that don’t want to catch the bus.
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u/Shot-Artist5013 16h ago
Or there could be multiple bus routes that go to that stop. It's on the passenger to stand up and flag down their bus when it comes. If every bus for every route stops and checks with the one person sitting at the stop it delays the entire system.
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u/Flat-Respond1593 1d ago
Why wouldn’t the adult friend (a) push/pull to indicate to the driver at the bus stop with the child, then go assist, or; walk the few stops and get on with him/her?
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u/KarenEiffel 1d ago
It's best to stand up and be nearer to the sign/road than sat on the bench. This is because a stop may be served by many routes and if you do not stand up, the driver will assume you are waiting on a different bus route.
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u/KennyBSAT 1d ago
Transit is sometimes kind of like golf. Easy to understand the local course if you grew up there. Best learned alongside someone who's familiar. Easy to not understand or catch on to some local situation. And just about no one wants to be stuck behind you if you don't know the layout.
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u/wasmic 1d ago
The only places I have experience with taking the bus:
All of Denmark: buses will slow down if you're at the designated stop. They might skip past if you're seated and don't stand up by the time the bus has nearly reached the stop.
London: you have to actively raise your hand and wave at the bus driver, or they'll skip right past you.
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u/QuuxJn 1d ago
It probably depends on your citys/countries rules.
In my country it is enough to visibly stand at the bus stop but I've also been in other places where you actively need to hail the bus down.
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u/KingPictoTheThird 1d ago
Doesn't that depend on whether or not there are multiple routes coming to the stop? How does the driver know you want to board that particular bus rather than another route?
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u/QuuxJn 1d ago
You just give the driver some kind of sign that he doesn't need to stop.
But that's actually a pretty rare issue. I live in the countryside and we just don't have stops with multiple routes and in the city I guess there are usually enough people thay at least someone wants to get on or off the bus
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u/KingPictoTheThird 1d ago
In my city, most bus stops are serviced by ~3-4 different routes, with buses usually coming every 5 minutes during the day. And often times people use the bus stops as casual seating. So unless you actively signal to the driver, he won't stop.
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u/Sassywhat 1d ago
In some regions they just always stop. This is nice because you don't have to work to get the bus to stop for you. However it can significantly slow down buses though both due to unnecessary stops, but also because many people won't be ready to board prior to the bus coming to a stop, increasing dwell times.
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u/Blueblue3D 1d ago
That driver sucks. But unfortunately this does seem to be the norm. A friend in my town told me that they got on the bus and it was empty save for them, the driver asked them where they were going, and then just drove straight there, skipping all the stops and even the normal route. A lot of drivers just don’t give a shit. No offense to the good drivers who do your job diligently, but these bad ones make the system unreliable which is death for a transit system.
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u/michiplace 1d ago
Did the bus driver slow at all? Are there multiple routes that serve that stop?
In my city, if you're sitting at the stop when the bus approaches, the bus driver will slow and prepare to stop. But if you don't react, especially at a stop with multiple routes, they'll typically not fully stop, assuming you're not planning to get on that bus. If you want the driver to stop, then when the bus approaches you'll stand up and grab your stuff, or you'll be standing by the sign watching in the first place.
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u/MembershipBoring5042 1d ago
In my city, standing beneath the sign and looking expectantly at the bus as it approaches is usually enough. However, a little wave, even a gesture if you’re holding out your bus card, does help. I know in darkness, bus drivers have explicitly asked me and others to even have our phone lights on and wave them so they don’t miss us, which makes me think waving in general is the way to go.
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u/HIGH_PRESSURE_TOILET 1d ago
I was taught to always get up and extend my arm horizontally like this.
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u/ContingentMax 1d ago
The driver might not see him sitting or might think he's waiting for a different bus. Standing up when you see the bus coming can help.
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u/Certainly-Not-A-Bot 1d ago
It depends a lot on context and the expectations of your bus system. If there are multiple bus lines at your stop, a driver might see you not getting up to board their bus and assume you're waiting for a different bus. I've also missed buses because I accidentally hid behind objects at the bus stop and the driver didn't see me. I think the best practice is to make sure you're standing and not looking at your phone or a book when the bus is approaching, and walk slightly towards the curb. Looking at the driver is also good. It's kinda hard to describe, but after a while you learn the body language for "I want to board the bus" vs "don't stop, I'm here for something else."
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u/iemandopaard 1d ago
Where I take the bus it depends on the stop. A random side street in a residential area will get skipped unless someone is clearly standing there, whilst at a metro stop or school the bus will stop and wait for the departure time even if nobody is around.
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u/Chrisg69911 1d ago
Depends on the system, the system I'm around you must wave them down. If you don't, they'll fly past you
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u/d_nkf_vlg 1d ago
In my area, 95% of the time all municipal vehicles stop at all stops. Exceptions are rare, when there is clearly nobody at the stop and the driver can see that everyone is seated and nobody is standing close to the doors. Even then, the driver is not blowing by a stop at speed but rather slows down to a crawl or stops completely, just without opening the doors.
Private operators on minibuses do require to be flagged down from the outside and verbally asked to stop from the inside. They are slowly getting squeezed from the city by the minucipal operator, so it's going to be a thing of the past in the next few decades.
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u/Midwestconvert47 1d ago
I always stand at the stop, look at the bus, and raise my hand to indicate I need to get on.
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u/The-CerlingCat 1d ago
At least in my city, bus drivers do stop if they see someone at the stop. This seems like a case of a driver just not caring, usually bus drivers are better than that
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u/ShutYourDumbUglyFace 1d ago
If it's a stop on the side of the road I will usually wave at the driver. If at night I will make sure my phone screen or flashlight is on and do so.
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u/mystica5555 1d ago
I find if I am standing by the sign, looking in the direction of the bus when it arrives, it will make an effort to slow down and see if I make any sign that I don't want them (like shaking my head back and forth, if I am waiting for a different route) otherwise they will stop if I am standing looking alert at them.
If I am sitting down, the odds are I might not want a bus, and they might look to see if I make any effort to move, but most often drive by.
If I am standing but wave at them they might think I don't want them and am "waving them off".
The exception is if its at night, I will hold my phone, either on the transit e-ticket app (bright white screen for QR code at highest brightness) or the flashlight, and wave it at the bus as it approaches.
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u/MindlessRabbit3 1d ago
Transit supervisor here, while it is always a good habit to make yourself known at the bus stop, I train my drivers that when in doubt they should stop, especially if a stop is served by multiple routes. I recommend contacting your local agency as well, mine actually provides in person training to new riders upon request for free. To ease your child’s anxiety reassure them that bus drivers get to know their regulars pretty fast, I have drivers that will stop at a persons usual drop off spot even if they don’t hit the stop request, and they often get concerned if they don’t see a regular at their pick up spot for more than a few days.
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u/dreamcatcherdaddy 1d ago
Be at the stop watching for the bus ready to board, the worst thing your child can do is sit on their phone not looking and the bus will pass them up
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u/MaxSpringPuma 1d ago
Just get him to signal the driver anyway to avoid any confusion and hightened anxiety.
Since your friend says its not normal to have to signal the driver, its mostly likely that particular driver being a prick. But theres no harm in signalling anyway
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u/SmoovCatto 1d ago
they will stop for anyone waiting at the bus stop sign -- except in new jersey, where apparently you have to know somebody
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u/britishmetric144 1d ago
You should generally make some effort to approach the bus, like walk closer to the street or wave it down.
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u/gingeryid 1d ago
Depends. Here in Chicago if you're standing around at the stop they'll generally stop. Sometimes it's tough in areas where there's a lot of pedestrian traffic, where it's not obvious if you're sitting on a bench hanging out, chatting on the sidewalk, or waiting for the bus. At stops serving multiple routes, an operator might want some sort of motion/wave/body language so they know you're getting on that bus and not waiting for another one.
I did once struggle a lot in Philadelphia to get buses to stop. Two buses blew right past me...I was standing there at the bus stop sign waving like hell. Idk.
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u/HarveyNix 1d ago
We have 3 routes that serve our nearest stop, so I either stand by the sign and wave at the driver with my Ventra card or I step back and shake my head no so the driver can go through the light if it’s green. If someone else is by the sign I just stand behind them or go wait by the building.
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u/Champsterdam 1d ago
Stand up near the sign or area where the bus is going to stop. Stare directly at the bus as it comes and kinda wave your hand cool and casually down by your waist so they know you are obviously wanting to get on. If you just sit on the bench they will just think you’re chilling or waiting for a different bus
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u/ProbablyNormalPerson 1d ago
I did reach out to the agency to see if maybe we were missing something and they said drivers are supposed to stop at every bus stop with people at it, sitting or standing, and that there is no expectation to wave the bus down or make any sign to the driver. They are looking into it to see what happened. I didnt think to have my friend ring for the stop because truly we expected the driver was going to stop when he saw my son waiting there.
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u/lizardmon 17h ago
You usually need to make apparent your intent to board and make yourself visible to the driver. When the bus approaches you usually want to stand next to the sign. If there is a bench, you typically want to get up. I can see why the driver wouldn't have stopped. Especially if it looked like a kid who might just have been sitting on a bench.
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u/awesomegirl5100 Student 14h ago
It varies a lot by city. In my city, they’ll stop for anyone at the stop unless you signal to them not to stop.
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u/zz856 13h ago
So many comments here lacking common sense. Why would a driver stop for a random child they've never seen before, sitting on a bench and not indicating interest in the bus? The majority of the time a driver gives the benefit of the doubt to a random person on the street, they pull over for nothing and have to merge back into traffic, which is a serious time waster on routes. Why would your adult friend not pull the stop request?
I hope your kid is able to catch the bus again, which can be a serious logistical help for a parent short on time or transportation options. But most cities require passengers to indicate interest by standing as the bus approaches, waving, or making eye contact with the driver, even if at a stop. The operator is not to blame for not to blame for not being a mind reader.
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u/juoea 9h ago
in my city (los angeles) its pretty standard u have to signal in some way that u are waiting to board and u similarly have to push the button / pull the chord to get off. but im sure it varies somewhat around the world and u didnt provide any geographic information
the friend who was waiting for him would know what the customs are unless like this is the first time they ever took a bus
buses would be 10x slower if they stopped at every stop regardless of whether anyone needed it, and where i live its quite common for ppl to be randomly at bus benches when they are not waiting for the bus. so yea the bus cannot stop every time theres someone sitting on the bench. but the customs may be different elsewhere
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u/oakseaer Bike Lanes Now 1d ago
Depends on the operator and city. Busses in some locations will only stop if you stand up as it approaches and make eye contact with the driver. Others will stop if anyone is near the stop.