Dilton Marsh made me think. There should probably be an entirely different thread on the subject of how to hail a bus, as this is often  another training issue (for the passenger) though bus companies could also help by ensuring that buses listed as stopping at a particular stop actually do call there - or having sufficient capacity that intending passengers don't experience full and standing services sailing past stops.

Often, for the driver, intending passengers seem to think that they're bidding in an auction - perhaps a slight touch of the nose - a small twitch of some possession in their hands - a head movement and blink.

The opposite being the over-gesticulation - a dash to the kerb edge, wild hand raising, both arms forward with shopping in both hands.

The former means that the driver needs to be clairvoyant. The latter means that that it's difficult for them to make the most of the interface between bus and kerb.

This could be addressed via dance and drama in schools if there is still such a thing as there's a tie-in with the basic art of expressing yourself appropriately using movement. It's non-verbal communication at a distance. In this case with the driver of a bus (or train) and it's a skill that's on a scale from being useful to being a lifesaver.

Mark

 
The real trick comes when two buses on different routes approach a stop and the second one is intent on overtaking the first...

 
I often ponder how I've got this far in life without ever having received training in how to hail a bus......

 
Explaining the basics of using a city's public transport system was (patchily) somewhat in fashion quite recently. 7pm on a very warm holiday weekend summer's evening, glorious skies (and a lot of cheerful people about) I recall leaving Wolverhampton railway station and heading for the fairly new and extensive bus station and thinking 'This is built for locals who know where they're going. At the entrance, this building and its services needs a guide for first-time visitors. A destinations map and the basics on ticket purchase pls and thq'.**

(My destination being an Irish mile across the city centre, I worked out that by the time I'd worked out what buses served it I'd have walked, and I did.)

Mark

**This was before the smartphone era - though on that count I defy anyone provided only with the FirstBus app to make sense of the likes of Bath bus station - which is another that doesn't exactly shine on the visitor information front.

 

In Plymouth awaiting passengers point at the bus they want. Seems to work well. That also make clear when they don’t want your bus with a shake of head.

Educating people waiting in the dark is key, if you’re wearing dark clothes we can’t see you. Light up your phone screen and wave it for the driver to see lit up. Makes a massive difference

 

To be honest as I approach 65 I ponder that about many things!

 
Over the years, I have been coached (so to speak ) in the correct way to hail a bus - not least (twice) over the past weekend, by my mentor in Melksham - we had a grin about it .  It does not involve energetic waving, in the manner of a toddler, by the way.

I have also been trained (so to speak, again, ) in the correct way to signal to a train driver the need for an emergency stop (should it ever have been required, for example, in my previous days working with Community Rail Partnerships on the railways).

Both involve arm signals - no dancing about, just a clear officially recognised signal to the driver.

CfN

 

Standing there at the bus stop, one does have to wonder if clicking on the bus icon on myTrip when standing at the stop would be an alternative way of signalling to the bus (or train) driver in the future without the need to stick out a limb into / towards the path of the moving vehicle as it approaches.   And indeed if the bus is already stopping to let someone off (as this was) could the app not tell us and save us the need to request?

 

That highlights another challenge!  Two pax waiting at bus stop requiring different services. Both services approach, one behind the other. Driver number two assumes both pax require bus number one and overtakes!  That has happened to me in the past - despite standing back and pointing towards bus number two - indicating that I want that one!

 

Been there and done that - most frustrating.

 

And me At Waterside in Torbay wanting the 120 to Kingswear and the 12 to Brixham is right in front.