Recently, we took a free shuttle bus from our neighbourhood to a nearby shopping centre.
On our return journey to our neighbourhood, the bus was almost full.
When the bus stopped at the drop-off/pick-up point, the passengers got up to leave the bus at both the front and rear doors for convenience sake.
However, people were also boarding the bus from the front, making it difficult for the front passengers to go down the bus due to limited space. So tension and temper were inevitable – we were eager to leave the bus with our bulky purchases while the up-coming traffic were equally eager to snag a seat in the near full bus! As some of the passengers would be getting off at the next drop-off point further up the the road, there may or may not be available seats for all boarding passengers!
The first boarding passenger (already going down the aisle of the bus probably still looking for an empty seat) shouted that we should have used the rear door to leave so that they can go up the bus from the front!
My first reaction at his angry outburst was : what the …….! Why can’t he and the rest waited for us to get off the bus first before they board?
The journey to the shopping centre only took about 12 minutes at most.
Much later at home and still mulling about the incident, I tried to be neutral and come up with some possible solution for a win-win situation.
Public bus commuters currently board the bus at the front and get off at the rear. This is to allow boarding passengers to be seated accordingly while the seats are emptied by the leaving passengers. The passage way in such buses are much wider to allow commuters to also stand when all seats are occupied.
For free shuttle buses, some drivers have procedures to drop-off and pick-up passengers at separate points. This allows passengers to get off the bus quickly before allowing people to board the bus. There is order and people can appreciate the process.
For situations where passengers can only get off at the rear door while people also board the bus from the front at the same time, a bottle-necked effect occurs at the rear door. Boarding passengers from the front would therefore not be able to get on the bus quickly enough to allow boarding passengers to take up the empty seats. Obviously, some impatient and hotheaded people would still have plenty to complain of when they are made to wait soo loong just to get onto the bus!
So, it makes sense for people to wait at either end for passengers get off the bus before boarding – since the bus service is free anyway.
If you don’t like it, go take a paying bus or taxi!
But If you want free travel, keep your cool and wait patiently for your turn – too bad if you cannot get a seat.
