Never piss off a bus driver

[adrian]

Today, I caught the bus home, and along the way Mckinley HS people started to fill the bus. After a few minutes, I heard someone jump on their nextel phone and PTT someone (with swearing and other "young jargon"). I thought I was getting irritated by the sounds and whatnot, but what I heard shocked me. The bus driver (an older female local-looking person) went on the bus's intercom, and said "can the person with the nextel shut off the speaker". The bus went quiet and looked behind me, where the person was sitting, and apparently he stopped.

I wanted to show him that he can still PTT people w/out the speaker, but I guess he got embarrassed and got off the bus.

TheBus: 1
Nextel: 0

[Glen Miyashiro]

Right on, Bus Driver Lady!!

[craigwatanabe]

I know PTT is cheaper than using the headpiece/mouthpiece but man some people just gotta broadcast their life story to everyone. I think that's worse than the cell phone itself ringing...over. :D

[Palolo Joe]

Yeah, and she probably did it while cutting someone off in traffic.

Bus drivers in Honolulu (especially the ones on Beretania, King and Kapiolani) rate just below taxi drivers, in my opinion. Seen them run red lights, block intersections, cut people off, etc.

[MadAzza]

Yeah, and she probably did it while cutting someone off in traffic.

Bus drivers in Honolulu (especially the ones on Beretania, King and Kapiolani) rate just below taxi drivers, in my opinion. Seen them run red lights, block intersections, cut people off, etc.

They also sit in the passing lane at 5 mph below the speed limit on the H1 between Kapolei and town, especially along the few miles between Pearl City and the airport/Nimitz area. So rude. Makes me crazy.

But I don't know what "PTT" means. I'll probably figure it out after I hit "send reply."

[Glen Miyashiro]

PTT = "press to talk". Those things always make me think of the toy walkie-talkies I had as a kid.

[Palolo Joe]

Actually...

PTT = Push to talk

Just Googled it to make sure. :D

[Stephen]

Whatever those PTT things are, they're the most annoying innovation in regards to cell phones. I believe we have Nextel to thank for that. The sad thing is that people can use the feature without broadcasting it to everyone - but most of them are either too lazy to figure it out, not smart enough, or just think they look cool talking on a walkie talkie (even though a walkie talkie costs about 10 bucks at Radio Shack and doesn't have a 50+ monthly fee to use!)

Stephen/Ragin Cajun

[adrian]

Whatever those PTT things are, they're the most annoying innovation in regards to cell phones. I believe we have Nextel to thank for that. The sad thing is that people can use the feature without broadcasting it to everyone - but most of them are either too lazy to figure it out, not smart enough, or just think they look cool talking on a walkie talkie (even though a walkie talkie costs about 10 bucks at Radio Shack and doesn't have a 50+ monthly fee to use!)

Stephen/Ragin Cajun
But those radios don't have the 30+ mile range that the nextel has, and even if you're close, the sound would be horrible.

But the one thing that bothers me, is when kids as young as 13 wear those baggy clothes, shirt halfway tucked in, hat leaning on the side while PTTing "wazzapp!!!" for a few minutes then ending the conversation.

And the worst part, is that Cingular will be rolling out its PTT soon, and Tmobile Germany is already using it in some places there, so it might come to the shores for "businessmen".

[EastCoastTropics]

I find these annoying too! Argh!! One day I was in line at a clothing store....I think it was Old Navy. Anyhoos, there I was in a line with 6 others peeps. There was a young girl ahead of me at, oh, 3 folks ahead. Her nextel thingie beeped and she got on that dang walkie-talkie thingie with such a loud voice. Since I was PMS'ing that day, I was especially annoyed and started listening in on her conversation and started talking to the other customers in line about her conversation like I was in on it too! The others and I started laughing, she got the hint and switched to private! :D

[craigwatanabe]

Nextel came into the Hawaii market when they bought out all of Motorola's Hawaii Commercial Business Band repeaters and renamed the company Nextel. That's why you don't see Motorola company vans running around Honolulu anymore and Nextel's primary cell phones are...Motorola!

So you can thank Moto for PTT.

[Miulang]

Nextel came into the Hawaii market when they bought out all of Motorola's Hawaii Commercial Business Band repeaters and renamed the company Nextel. That's why you don't see Motorola company vans running around Honolulu anymore and Nextel's primary cell phones are...Motorola!

So you can thank Moto for PTT.
I think Motorola's making more money just being the equipment provider than they ever could selling their own stuff directly (i.e., "know your niche in business and prosper")

Miulang

[adrian]

So you can thank Moto for PTT.
Of course!

I haven't seen anyone use any other PTT radios other than Motos (well, maybe the police uses another brand) but so far, the other manufactures seem cheap.

And did I post this in the correct forum? Originally, it talked about TheBus drivers, but its now swaying towards technology. :confused:

[Glen Miyashiro]

It seems like topic drift is inevitable here at HawaiiThreads! Don't worry, if it gets really off-topic, the moderators will split the thread as needed.

[craigwatanabe]

Okay den back OT!!!

One thing about bus drivers is that as bad as they can be, the threat of losing their job (amazing benefits) and more importantly their CDL will keep them from causing too much trouble on the streets. And that goes for any driver who drives vehicles over 10,000 GVW (requiring a CDL license).

If these drivers lose their CDL for any reason, they can pretty much hang up their driving career and for some that's all they have as you don't need a college degree to get one. It is for that reason is why most heavy equipment drivers are typically curteous on the roads...typically that is.

If you see a CDL driver acting really bad, report him/her to the company or the police. That driver will get a notice to shape up or lose his license or job. You as an automobile driver or pedestrian/bicyclist have recourse against these kinds of bad drivers.

[oggboy]

That`s Thru Craig,

I Do Think This Bus Driver Did The Right Thing Telling The Rider

To Turn Off Their Cell.

When I Was Living On Oahu And Taking The Bus Between Jobs,

Neva Have These Nextel Ptt. Lucky Thing Foa Us Riders.

I Can Just Picture Now Day`s What Da Bus Drivers Gotta Deal With

Now!!!! So Much For The Green Busses And Mtl... Oggboy

[EastCoastTropics]

I'm glad the bus driver told the passenger to shut their freaking nextel off! If I'm bothered by nimrods using it in line in a store, I'd definately be bothered by having to listen to it on a bus!

[Miulang]

Now with all the paranoia about terrorists attacking the US public transportation system, it's a wonder noone using those PTTs has been gunned down or beaten up by irate passengers. Which age group uses the PTT the most? Not people over 30. Kids just have no clue about etiquette anymore. Send 'em all to charm school. :p These users are probably also the ones who think they can talk on their cellphone (using their headsets, of course), eat a Big Mac and drive at the same time. Then they cut somebody off because they're not paying attention and end up being in a road rage incident.

Miulang

[cezanne]

I wanted to show him that he can still PTT people w/out the speaker, but I guess he got embarrassed and got off the bus.


I would have gave the bus-driver a standing ovation (of course if I was standing anyway). The people with the handless setups are just as bad... for some reason they think they have to yell when they talk.

[FreaknHaole]

TheBus always rates high in customer satisfaction, and one reason is that the drivers generally attempt to make the ride a pleasant experience -- which includes calling out disruptive passengers.
Combine a PTT with ADD and a lack of social graces and you have an annoying rider who has no clue he's annoying. An incipient sociopath. Until the captain of the ship -- er, the bus driver -- er, his mama -- drags him back to reality by telling him to shut the hell up.

For some reason, I'm reminded of the Kailua-to-town bus driver who used to sell little bags of potato chips and snacks to riders. No significant mark-up -- just a person who understood the importance of noshing.

Sodden thought -- why not rig TheBus with WiFi so riders could use their laptops?

[cezanne]

Combine a PTT with ADD and a lack of social graces and you have an annoying rider who has no clue he's annoying. An incipient sociopath.
LOL! Classic...

Bus drivers have to put up with a lot of crap. So yeah so long they got their signal on or got there hand out the window saying they need to come into my lane... sure, be my guest.

[SouthKona]

If these drivers lose their CDL for any reason, they can pretty much hang up their driving career and for some that's all they have as you don't need a college degree to get one. It is for that reason is why most heavy equipment drivers are typically curteous on the roads...typically that is.

I assume you mean by "heavy equipment drivers" the operators of the equipment (as opposed to meaning the drivers of the flatbed trucks that haul the heavy equipment on the roadway from job site to job site). In any case, I agree that heavy equipment drivers (AKA "operators") are typically courteous drivers. Perhaps because they have extreme respect for the damage that machinery can inflict upon a human body, a "small mistake" while operating a piece of equipment can easily mean death to the operator or a coworker. Such awareness would overlap to an awareness of the results of a car vs the human body.
That said, you do not need a driver's license to be a heavy equipment operator. You need to be qualified to run the quipment, and union jobs require a medical clearance, but not a driver's license. (Of course, the drivers of flatbed trucks need a CDL).
Go Operators!! :)

[melorama]

For some reason, I'm reminded of the Kailua-to-town bus driver who used to sell little bags of potato chips and snacks to riders. No significant mark-up -- just a person who understood the importance of noshing.


I love drivers like this! Hands down, THE coolest drivers who did things like this were the ones on the Route 70 (Maunawili-Kailua-Lanikai) route. They'd let you come on the bus with your Big Gulp, let you eat food (only if you took your garbage off with you, of course) and would give you candy, crack seed, etc. They'd also drop you off right in front of your house, instead of making you get off at the "official" stop a block or so away.

I haven't rode that route in over 8 years now, but for the almost 20 years that I did, nearly all the drivers on that route were really cool like that.

Then there are the complete butthead drivers who insist on doing EVERYTHING "by the book" (and more). I was once refused entrance onto a bus because I walked on taking a swig of my bottled water! The driver said to me "no drinks on the bus." I could have just thrown the bottle out, but I refused to get back on the bus, just out of principle. What a jerk.

One time, I also saw a driver refuse to let a nice Japanese couple on the bus, because "no surfboards allowed"...the couple's "surfboard" was one of those 3 dollar, styrofoam paddle-boards that you get from the ABC store or whatever.



Sodden thought -- why not rig TheBus with WiFi so riders could use their laptops?

A nice idea...but have you ever tried to actually *use* a laptop on a moving bus? Space issues aside, the bus shakes so violently, even at slow speeds, that it's impossible to keep your eyes on the screen without going completely insane (or at least a massive headache).

[newroots]

lol... freaknhaole thats a good one. but sometimez its da other way round. my uncles a bus driver , dat guys the most annoying guy ever.

[newroots]

theres some bus drivers who smoked too much ice and their driving super fast haha. stupid heads. and theres some who are not only bus drivers , but are dj's at the same time. they try to impress you with their taste of music that no one listens to in the bus.

[craigwatanabe]

[QUOTE=SouthKona

I assume you mean by "heavy equipment drivers" the operators of the equipment (as opposed to meaning the drivers of the flatbed trucks that haul the heavy equipment on the roadway from job site to job site). In any case, I agree that heavy equipment drivers (AKA "operators") are typically courteous drivers. Perhaps because they have extreme respect for the damage that machinery can inflict upon a human body, a "small mistake" while operating a piece of equipment can easily mean death to the operator or a coworker. Such awareness would overlap to an awareness of the results of a car vs the human body.
That said, you do not need a driver's license to be a heavy equipment operator. You need to be qualified to run the quipment, and union jobs require a medical clearance, but not a driver's license. (Of course, the drivers of flatbed trucks need a CDL).
Go Operators!! :)[/QUOTE]

I stand corrected I meant vehicles that have GVW ratings of 10,000 or greater requiring CDL.

I've worked with both Heavy Equipment Operators and CDL drivers where I used to work (all of them card carrying union members) and from talking to the fleet vehicle supervisor (also a union man), these drivers could care less about the delicate nature of their rigs.

The drivers I know tell me it is the paranoia of getting caught doing something stupid while driving these big vehicles. If you get any moving or equipment violation while driving these kinds of vehicles, you can get your CDL suspended or taken away permanently.

One thing you don't do to a big rig is to cut one off then slow down quickly. Big vehicles cannot slow down as fast. They will try their best not to rear end you, however it's safer to ram the rear of the car rather than slam on their air brakes (Jacobs if trailing) and have their 10-ton load shift forward right into the crew cabin or their trailer jack-knife into oncoming lanes of traffic.

But people do that and a normal driver would get pissed off enough to do something very offensive. But a CDL driver will keep back because any kind of aggression reported back to his company or the police could jeapordize his job or his license.

[adrian]

Another story from my bus ride:

As we were going down Farrington in Waipahu on the gentle slopping hill between a former radio station and the Paiwa intersection, someone braked early when it was still green, and since the driver was going a bit fast, he managed to honk his horn and swerve to avoid hitting the civic that was almost in a state of parkingness.

No one got hurt, but the driver was clearly pissed and that was the first time that I saw a bus driver give the finger to someone.

[Glen Miyashiro]

As we were going down Farrington in Waipahu on the gentle slopping hill between a former radio station and the Paiwa intersection, someone braked early when it was still green, and since the driver was going a bit fast, he managed to honk his horn and swerve to avoid hitting the civic that was almost in a state of parkingness.Boy, I hate it when those hills start slopping. It can get messy real fast. :D

[pzarquon]

I'm embarrassed to say I had an encounter with a bus... while riding my bike.

I was coming down Halawa Heights Drive, a bit faster than I should have been going (of course), and saw several blocks ahead a bus crossing my path. Basically, the physics calculators in my head must've missed a decimal point, and I assumed that the bus would clear the intersection long before I got there.

At the last minute I realized I wasn't going to make it, slammed on my brakes, and ended up whomping into the side of the bus, sideways. I was still standing and wobbled over to the curb to gather my wits.

The bus driver actually stopped and got out and came over to ask if I was all right. I was humiliated but fine. He walked away shaking his head like he'd just met the dumbest crackhead in town.

I've also bounced off a few back bumpers of buses when getting a little too into "drafting" them down a street... :p

[lurkah]

He walked away shaking his head like he'd just met the dumbest crackhead in town.
Yes, but how did the bus fare? :p

[Miulang]

Yes, but how did the bus fare? :p
Fairly well, I suspect. But Ryan was lucky he never get bus' up! :p

Miulang