Who’d be a bus driver?
Given nine out of 10 new Sydney drivers quit the industry within six months of joining it, it’s a question focusing the mind of the NSW government as it grapples to service its own bus routes.
Could it be the hard seats? The long shifts? The split shifts? The inadequate toilet breaks? The drivers who duck into your lane and brake as the lights go orange? The ill-tempered passengers who call you “all the names under the sun”? The inch-close shaves? The pay?
According to Angie, a North Shore bus driver who spoke to the Lorikeet this week, it’s “all of the above”. And it’s leading drivers who ferry people on the North Shore about to walk off the job.
What is happening: Sydney is about 200 drivers short, and bus companies and the government have been forced to hire them from New Zealand.
Angie has worked at the Willoughby bus depot for 16 years. Typically, she drives the 120 from Chatswood to and from the QVB in the morning and clocks off around 3pm, though we had to delay our interview when her shift was extended, which she says is not uncommon.
NSL: What bugs you about driving?
A: The seats are not favourable for the drivers at all. Especially some buses, they've still got just a lap seat belt. Those particular seats are like sitting on cement. They're not — what's that word? — ergonomic.
Then there's traffic. I find, over the past couple of years, people are making up their own road rules, and they have no consideration for buses.
Say, for instance, I'm driving along the freeway, I always leave a buffer zone in front of the car in front of me. So if I need to stop abruptly, I can, because it takes a longer distance for a bendy to stop. But you've got drivers just chipping in front of you, you know, it can be rather frustrating.
Is there much abuse?
It can happen. I don't get abused very often. I don't know if it's because I'm a woman or what — I tend to greet everyone with a smile, so maybe that lowers people's frustration.
But I have been shouted at, and it's not pleasant. Especially when people call you all the names under the sun. And you just have to deal with that. You've just got to keep driving. You can't just pull over and get out of the seat.
Tell us about the regulars.
There's some, especially on the 120; people know my name and I know their name, and we greet each other. It just gives you a good feeling to carry on throughout the day.
Why is there a shortage of bus drivers?
Probably because of the conditions. The amount of hours that you have to work, the pay specifically is not good, considering the amount of hours that we're out on the road. Sometimes, for instance, I have to hold off going to the toilet for up to three to four hours because there's no toilets.
It's obviously not a physical job, but mentally, because you're in the seat, your eyes are just everywhere. You can't just focus straight ahead. You're looking at the traffic lights. You're looking at your mirrors on either side of the bus to make sure no one's going to chip in front of you, or if they're getting too close to the back of the bus. You're preempting people's decisions, how they're going to drive.
[New drivers] think it's okay for them at the beginning, and then, after their training, they've decided, ‘Oh God, this isn't really for me’.
You do really have to be a different breed of person to be a bus driver. I would never have thought about this before I started. People look at you differently too. They look at you, you know, in not a nice way. Like you're the lower, the scum.
How have you persevered for 16 years?
I'm a tough cookie, right? But I enjoy driving. I've always enjoyed driving.
Does the shortage impact your weekly roster?
Yeah, nearly every day I do overtime. So I have my shift that finishes at about 2:30, 2:45, and then I [can] do about two to three hours after that, which makes it a very, very long day.
And fatigue-wise, I'm obviously okay to work the next day, but it can take its toll. It can be tiring.
Is the fix complicated or simple?
I think it's easy to fix. The pay, to start with. If you look after your employee, your employee will look after you. They will love to come to work, they will excel in customer service with the passengers.
We're taking people on a daily basis to their jobs, to the doctors, to pick up their kids. We do it as safe a way as we can, and their lives are in our hands.
How many passengers say “thank you” when they get off?
I've literally counted how many people I've had on the bus, [compared] to how many people say thank you. And it's a big thing. Nowhere near half the amount of people say thank you. Not even a quarter.
That can also play on people, because they don't feel like they're valued.
Thumbnail: Transport for NSW