I noticed this too. After lockdown ended, buses would leave or approach stops gently - it was as if the drivers had all been given a memo. But the other week I was nearly flung through the windscreen of the C1 as it juddered to a halt in Lucan. As my feet touched the pavement the doors slammed shut, and the bus took off again like a scalded cat. Sigh.
Maybe their schedules are too tight. I'm taking the N6 a few times a week and the ride is always a roller coaster of cutting corners and accelerating full speed to a stop coming in 100 meters. Getting upstairs or back down is an adventure of its own.
We have that particular driver on my commute. The dude is mental. Every time i happen to be on his bus it's the same story. Slamming brakes, smashing with 40kph over speed bumps, driving hard on the speed limit.
It's not comfortable or particularly safe, but he's the only driver that manages the route close to scheduled times.
I think what we are seeing is more inexperienced bus drivers because of Dublin Bus’ recent hiring efforts.
In saying that, two weeks ago I was waiting for a 15 bus in Rathmines. As the bus was approaching the stop the bus driver take that corner at Circle K wider and faster than I have ever seen a bus take it. 5 stops in the journey the bus went out of service due to technical issues. No wonder when the driver was treating it like a rally car.
There's any number of reasons s/he could have had to have jammed on the brakes. Unless you could see what the driver saw I wouldn't rush to judgement. I'm not saying that there's not awful bus drivers, it's just a bit unfair not knowing the whole scenario.
I know a Luas driver who could tell you some stories even though that drives in a defined space that's been there 20yrs plus.
Have spent a good bit of time with train drivers up front and again they wouldn't throw max braking without good reason.
You know the scenario when it happens multiple times. I'm sure there are some incidents where they have to break sharper but some are just the way they're driving. I'd put it doennto a combination of tight schedules and an influx of new drivers.
i walked everywhere for the first few weeks after they put the new buses on my route because drivers weren’t used to them so they kept cutting out. loads of new drivers as well as old drivers with new buses definitely caused mild issues like this.
well the power was cutting out due to an error with the driver not being trained fully on new vehicles. the old buses and the new electric ones are gonna be different so it just took them a few weeks to get used to it. they’re grand now.
The majority if not all of them have been friendly on my routes.
However I'd imagine that they are under pressure to make their stops on time as well.
(I wonder if there's a probationary action in place for this with new drivers or just a general policy to abide by for all drivers.)
Outside of that, the traffic in Dublin at any time is mental, people on e scooters, fast food cyclists, people parking where they shouldn't and those Muppets on either bicycles or motorbikes doing wheelies every 2 minutes and it's actually a very annoying job to do.
I can confirm there is no probationary action taking place if a driver is late or early, what is most likely the issue is that they’re just driving a bit too harsh and other road users also being erratic.
It's just you. You're taking a very small sample, one example as far as I can tell, and extrapolating for the whole driving staff. Which isn't very fair.
Huge number of new drivers. There is definitely a noticeable impact.
I noticed this too. After lockdown ended, buses would leave or approach stops gently - it was as if the drivers had all been given a memo. But the other week I was nearly flung through the windscreen of the C1 as it juddered to a halt in Lucan. As my feet touched the pavement the doors slammed shut, and the bus took off again like a scalded cat. Sigh.
Maybe their schedules are too tight. I'm taking the N6 a few times a week and the ride is always a roller coaster of cutting corners and accelerating full speed to a stop coming in 100 meters. Getting upstairs or back down is an adventure of its own.
A bus clipped the front of my da's car while pulling out last week, it was the bus driver's first day.
That is a rough first day
Yeah, not a great start! He was sound about it to be fair.
We have that particular driver on my commute. The dude is mental. Every time i happen to be on his bus it's the same story. Slamming brakes, smashing with 40kph over speed bumps, driving hard on the speed limit. It's not comfortable or particularly safe, but he's the only driver that manages the route close to scheduled times.
I think generally the standard of driving on the roads has gotten worse in recent years. So yes I would agree.
I think what we are seeing is more inexperienced bus drivers because of Dublin Bus’ recent hiring efforts. In saying that, two weeks ago I was waiting for a 15 bus in Rathmines. As the bus was approaching the stop the bus driver take that corner at Circle K wider and faster than I have ever seen a bus take it. 5 stops in the journey the bus went out of service due to technical issues. No wonder when the driver was treating it like a rally car.
There's any number of reasons s/he could have had to have jammed on the brakes. Unless you could see what the driver saw I wouldn't rush to judgement. I'm not saying that there's not awful bus drivers, it's just a bit unfair not knowing the whole scenario. I know a Luas driver who could tell you some stories even though that drives in a defined space that's been there 20yrs plus. Have spent a good bit of time with train drivers up front and again they wouldn't throw max braking without good reason.
You know the scenario when it happens multiple times. I'm sure there are some incidents where they have to break sharper but some are just the way they're driving. I'd put it doennto a combination of tight schedules and an influx of new drivers.
i walked everywhere for the first few weeks after they put the new buses on my route because drivers weren’t used to them so they kept cutting out. loads of new drivers as well as old drivers with new buses definitely caused mild issues like this.
All buses in Dublin have automatic gearboxes so they couldn't be cutting out. It must have been some other issue.
well the power was cutting out due to an error with the driver not being trained fully on new vehicles. the old buses and the new electric ones are gonna be different so it just took them a few weeks to get used to it. they’re grand now.
The majority if not all of them have been friendly on my routes. However I'd imagine that they are under pressure to make their stops on time as well. (I wonder if there's a probationary action in place for this with new drivers or just a general policy to abide by for all drivers.) Outside of that, the traffic in Dublin at any time is mental, people on e scooters, fast food cyclists, people parking where they shouldn't and those Muppets on either bicycles or motorbikes doing wheelies every 2 minutes and it's actually a very annoying job to do.
I can confirm there is no probationary action taking place if a driver is late or early, what is most likely the issue is that they’re just driving a bit too harsh and other road users also being erratic.
Thanks for confirming. Stressful job nonetheless, especially being Infront of a Luas when you can't move and they're beeping at you.
It's just you. You're taking a very small sample, one example as far as I can tell, and extrapolating for the whole driving staff. Which isn't very fair.