The way to really send me over the edge is to say that ‘all passengers want is a bus that turns up on time, they don’t care what colour it is’ and ‘they should just be grateful they’ve got a bus at all’ as I will turn into a gibbering wreck in a matter of seconds
INSIDE TRACK
Unable to contain my frustration any longer, this month I am going into battle against four of my least favourite bus industry catchphrases. Tedious mantras that spew repeatedly from the mouths of lazy industry figures and less enlightened commentators that — at best — display a lack of understanding of how a retail industry works and — at worst — show profound disrespect for those who pay to use our services.
It was a comment in a Twitter conversation by a supposedly up-andcoming junior manager that finally tipped me over the edge. ‘What passengers want…’ it began and my blood ran cold.
I reckon there are between 15 and 20million individual people across our nation who use buses on either an occasional or regular basis. That is around a quarter of the entire population, yet according to this manager — and many like him who preface their own personal opinions with the same generalisation — they all think the same and want the same thing.
