Public Transit Etiquette

[Taeolas]

I've been thinking about this for a long time. I take the bus to get to and from work almost every day. I do this myself, and I've noticed others do it regularly, so I was curious how many other people (who regularly take the bus) do it.

Do you thank your bus driver when you get off the bus?

As I said, I usually do. I don't know when or how I started doing it; (it may have been way back in school when I took the school bus) but I'm pretty sure I've done it in just about every city I've been in. In my small town, it does seem to be very common to thank the driver as well.

[Gillianren]

Oh, I always do. Always have, I think. It's not just that Olympia is a small town with excellent transit, although we are. I remember from when I was in high school and taking Los Angeles public transit that there would be a long line of teenagers getting off at my stop all thanking the driver.

[Swift]

I don't ride public transit much, but I think it a nice thing to do. Or, if I didn't thank them, I'd probably wish them a nice day or something similar. But then, I'm the kind of person who thanks my waitress when she refills my water glass.

[Fazor]

But then, I'm the kind of person who thanks my waitress when she refills my water glass.

Ditto. Though there's been a few times where this has led to situations where I thank out of habit, and probably sound like I'm being a sarcastic [jerk]. Like, when you're leaving a restaurant and just expect the front-door staff to say "Have a nice day", so when they don't, and I say "Have a nice day", sometimes I feel like I'm coming across as being sarcastic.

I don't ride public transit ever (our town doesn't have it) but I'd probably thank him. Or more likely say "have a good one" (which is what I say at work)

[Jim]

I don't ride public transportation very often... the last time was when I pulled four days on jury duty... but I do thank the driver when I get off. I also worked at a refinery where the only way to get around the plant was by shuttle bus, and I thanked that driver, too.

Maybe it's in-bred. When I had just finished high school we took a trip to NYC. At one point we took the bus. When I got on I took the next to last open seat. Just behind me was a woman with her (very cute) teenage daughter. They looked for seats and found the one next to me. The woman told her daughter to take it. (Did I mention she was very cute?)

I stood up and told the woman, "Here, ma'am, take my seat."

She looked at me dumbfounded, then sat down. She kept looking at me and finally said, "You're not from around here, are you?"

"No, ma'am, I'm from Texas."

[HenrikOlsen]

In Denmark people enter buses by the front door and leave by the back doors, so there's not really a chance to say thank you when leaving.

[Swift]

Maybe it's in-bred. When I had just finished high school we took a trip to NYC. At one point we took the bus. When I got on I took the next to last open seat. Just behind me was a woman with her (very cute) teenage daughter. They looked for seats and found the one next to me. The woman told her daughter to take it. (Did I mention she was very cute?)

I stood up and told the woman, "Here, ma'am, take my seat."

She looked at me dumbfounded, then sat down. She kept looking at me and finally said, "You're not from around here, are you?"

"No, ma'am, I'm from Texas."

I was born and raised in NYC. Many of the things people from outside of NYC think about New Yorkers are not true (for example, I don't think New Yorkers are rude to outsiders). But you are right, not giving up bus or subway seats is pretty common practice.

I however, almost always did so when I lived in the city, even if they didn't have a cute daughter. But that was the way my mom taught me. And maybe that the critical factor.

[Gillianren]

In Denmark people enter buses by the front door and leave by the back doors, so there's not really a chance to say thank you when leaving.

We yell it from the back door.

[Jens]

In Denmark people enter buses by the front door and leave by the back doors, so there's not really a chance to say thank you when leaving.

Same in Japan. And it's considered impolite here to yell, so people don't yell at the driver from the door.

In response to a different post, I also thank waiters/waitresses for refilling my water. I find it hard to believe anybody wouldn't.

And I also would move seats for a mother and daughter. Well, depending on how cute the daughter is, I suppose.

[Aphid]

I always ask for the address where I can send a thank you letter to the mechanic who worked on the bus.

[Jens]

I always ask for the address where I can send a thank you letter to the mechanic who worked on the bus.

Do you also make sure to find where the bus was assembled so you can send thank you letters to the line workers there? That might be a good next step.

[ggremlin]

When I have taken the bus or train, I will normally than the driver or conductor. There have been a few times when I think the height of public etiquette is to NOT commit mass murder.

[Ivan Viehoff]

In the traditional type London bus, with a conductor, the driver is in a separate compartment and no possibility of communication. On a bus with conductor, you might thank the conductor if s/he had actually performed some explicit assistance to you.

On a Driver-only bus, you might explicitly thank them for some unusual service performed, like holding the bus as you run up to it, or opening the door away from an official stop.

Today in central London you have to pay before boarding the bus, so might not interact with the driver at all, or even go anywhere near them, even if they are in the main compartment.

But in general if everyone went around thanking for routine service, that would delay transport and not be considerate at all.

[DonM435]

When I worked downtown in The Big City and had a long ride home, I'd often walk a mile or two just to catch the bus at a point where there were still seats available. Having done that to get a seat, I sure wouldn't surrender it, except to a true invalid or other really sad case.

[NEOWatcher]

I drove transit buses in college. Most of the riders were college students, but we were also the area's primary transit.
I found that a lot of it has to do with the attitude of the driver. When I was smiling, or greeting passengers, I got very kind responses. Otherwise, got nothing.

It even worked on a run where I would routinely get over 80 people packed tightly into every crevice of a 35 passenger bus. (not to worry, it was only like that for less than 1/2 mile)

But; like Henrik's comment, the back door was the primary egress. But; it was very common to use the front when there were just a scant few on the bus and were sitting near the front to begin with. In those cases, it was a friendlier (or at least less frustrating) situation to begin with.

[Gillianren]

But in general if everyone went around thanking for routine service, that would delay transport and not be considerate at all.

Saying "thank you" as you're on your way out the door has never delayed anything that I've seen.

[jfribrg]

In Denmark people enter buses by the front door and leave by the back doors, so there's not really a chance to say thank you when leaving.

That's how it is on my bus. I actually take two trolleys and a bus. Depending on the route, sometimes you pay getting on and sometimes you pay getting off. When you pay getting off, you need to exit at the front. I usually thank the driver. It doesn't hurt for the driver to know you. There may be a time when I'm running to catch the bus. If they know me as the guy who always says "thanks", then maybe he'll wait. But even if that isn't the case, I just do it by force of habit.

[pzkpfw]

A lot of it is habit, too. I said "thank you" to the cop who gave me a speeding ticket last Month. (Did it the previous time, 4 years ago, too).


I "thank you" the waiter/waitress for pretty much everything they do for me. Get's a bit tiresome if they come back a few times to do little things (take order, deliver water, change cutlery to match the order, place napkin, ...) - but it seems rude to 'ignore' them if they have just done something right in front of me.


...and what's with the applause when a plane lands? Does the pilot hear that? (I recently did some travel and experienced that applause for the first time. In N.Z. nobody does this.)

[Trebuchet]

I've experienced applause upon a plane taking off. That was a military charter flight, and we were on our way HOME!

[swampyankee]

I find applause for a decent landing -- good visibility, no bounce, etc to be a little silly. Maybe if #1 just fell off and #2 is on fire, in the middle of a blizzard. Well, then I'd buy the pilot a drink. I'd need one!

[Jim]

...and what's with the applause when a plane lands? Does the pilot hear that? (I recently did some travel and experienced that applause for the first time. In N.Z. nobody does this.)

Huh, that's a new one for me.

Well, except one time, years ago.

The plane I was on came in for a flawless landing... no bump, no bounce, just a smooth slide onto the runway. Probably the best landing I had ever experienced.

As we were taxiing to the gate, the head flight attendant came on the PA. She told us that the pilot had let the copilot make the landing because the copilot's parents were on board. The cabin spontaneously started applauding. I don't know if the copilot heard it, but his parents did.

[Graybeard6]

Years ago, going into Pittsburgh in a Lake Central (aka "Late" Central) Nord 262 (see here: http://www.airliners.net/photo/596000/M/) the landing gear lights didn't come on. they tried the backup, then the backup for the backup, keeping us informed all the while. We then made a low pass by the tower (great fun!) and they said the gear was down, but they couldn't tell if it was locked. We prepared for a wheels-up landing, and the pilot very gingerly put it on the runway; the gear held. We passengers not only applauded, we cheered and shook the hands of the crew. It turned out that it was the flight attendant's first day. what an initiation!

[Tobin Dax]

Well, the last few times I was on a bus, it was with my 3-year-old niece and my father. So, yes, we said thank you to the driver on the way off the bus.

Champaing-Urbana, IL, has an excellent mass transit system, so that and my feet were how I travelled most of the time during grad school. I would usually say hi to the driver when I got on the bus and thank the driver, or at least wave if I was at the rear door, when I got off. While I lived in student housing for a few years, one driver and I knew each other by sight after a while and we would sometimes even chat a bit.

I must say that I'm jealous of an over-packed bus being so for less than half a mile. Within a couple months of starting grad school, I learned to go in to my office after the a.m. "rush-hour." Playing sardine for a mile or two of my bus trip was not how I wanted to start my morning.

[DonM435]

I always gave the driver a "Thank you."

Unless he had previously given me grief over not having quite exact change., or the attitude regarding same.

[RANT] Or for the equally-heinous crime of walking a mile to catch the bus as it arrived downtown instead of waiting until later in the departure loop when all the seats were taken and also being under thirty.

I wanted to be able to sit and read a book, something that you can't do as a strap-hanger. Take that away from me and I might as well drive my car to work, though I assume that they aren't supposed to encourage that.

One time, the Chicago (oops, I went and named The Big City!) Transit Authority stated that they just might require able-bodied people to give up their seats to women, children, elderly, veterens and 4.0-honor students who read enough books.

Okay, but having paid full fare, do I get a refund? Is it my fault that your genuises don't provide enough buses for the utterly-predictable route? Aha! I thought not! You're just playing Santa Claus with my money!

But, they got praised anyway by certain groups for that gesture.[/RANT]

[swampyankee]

When I was regularly using public transit in New York, I'd usually stand even if there were seats available, mostly as I had just suffered through about 2 hours of Metro North's seating¹ on their commuter trains. The subway would also be (or get) very crowded, and I wouldn't be on it for long. I took the bus in NYC once; I simply don't like riding on buses. I have taken local (New Haven) city buses, where the normal practice is to enter at the front and leave at the back. The driver is a person, so I try to greet him or her on getting onto the bus, but leaving from the back makes thanking the driver impractical.





1: These commuter trains were all at least twenty years old, and the seats were original, and probably never very comfy.

[Jens]

I wanted to be able to sit and read a book, something that you can't do as a strap-hanger.

You can't? I do that all the time. I suppose if the book is heavy it can be a pain, but with a paperback it's not that hard, is it?

[Gillianren]

require [/I]able-bodied people to give up their seats to women, children, elderly, veterens and 4.0-honor students who read enough books.

Do the honour students get a badge or something? I never would have had to stand again.

Our buses here do have prominent signs on the first few seats declaring that they are intended primarily for the elderly and disabled. However, ever since they started allowing those giant monstrosity strollers on the bus, their stroller beats my cane. And they don't have to pay for it, either, because the kids in it are under six.

[DonM435]

Do the honour students get a badge or something?
...

I was being sarcastic, using that as a stand-in item for other privileged groups. But who knows who else qualified?

[Swift]

Quote Originally Posted by DonM435
I wanted to be able to sit and read a book, something that you can't do as a strap-hanger.

You can't? I do that all the time. I suppose if the book is heavy it can be a pain, but with a paperback it's not that hard, is it?

When I was a regular "strap-hanger" on the NYC subway, I could do it. If you got a pole, and you were used to subway car movements to compensate, I could lean against the pole and stand upright without holding on.

[weatherc]

When I was a regular "strap-hanger" on the NYC subway, I could do it. If you got a pole, and you were used to subway car movements to compensate, I could lean against the pole and stand upright without holding on.

I was on the PATH train from New Jersey to NYC just the other day, and a large number of people were standing and reading everything from magazines to electronic book readers. A lot of them weren't even leaning on a pole or holding on to anything, but just standing in the middle of the car and reading. You could tell these were the real regular commuters.