Stephen Rees's blog

I have just submitted a complaint to Translink. This being a Sunday afternoon there is apparently no-one available to answer the phone so I used an online form.

The incident occurred at 2:21pm on Sunday August 17 at stop no 50101 westbound Cornwall farside Cypress 

The #22 was following a #2 which had stopped and was occupying the stop. The operator of the #22 chose to overtake the #2 and did not check to see if there were any passengers waiting at the stop for service beyond 16th Avenue. The operator of the #2 made no attempt to contact control to report the incident. Another off duty operator on that bus suggested we telephone Translink. There is, of course, no-one to answer the phone on Sundays. 

Passengers complain all the time about pass-ups due to full buses. Both buses in this case were lightly loaded. From casual observation it is not at all unusual for a #2 and #22 to proceed in convoy. The #2 is simply a short working of the #22 – a long route from the Dunbar loop on the west side to the Knight Street bridge on the east side. The #2 simply covers the section between Burrard Station and 16th Avenue.

Bus operators are supposed to provide a service to the public. In this case the operator was simply concerned to get to the end of the line as fast as possible. Operators of buses have many complaints about passengers too of course. And they take the brunt of the anger directed at Translink for matters well beyond their control. They take verbal and physical abuse. But they also follow their own code which has much more to do with making their job easier than the convenience of the travelling public. Bunching outside of peak periods, overtaking and deciding to pass up passengers should not occur but are, I suspect, not infrequent occurrences.

I have absolutely no expectation at all that any attempt will be made to either identify the operator or even record the incident. CMBC are now investigating but warn me that I am not allowed to share whatever they find out. Well, I know what happened – and so do the people who were there. And now so do you. You just cannot know if anything is done about it. 

Experiences like this one are one of the many reasons why “choice” passengers – those who have an alternative – avoid transit when they can.