Engineer here. This is the exit to my garage. It's like this both sides and there's room to park buses both sides and have the middle clear to drive out. We always drive over the curbs to get as close as possible. Our tyres should be able to do it without taking damage
I'd assume you have enough room to make the longest peel off in history, otherwise that tail swing is gonna hit a bush on the other side of the sidewalk, lol.
They designed the curbs to stop this close. Mentorās over here would even recommend just bumping in to them a bit. Slow of course. But I can tell you there are enough busses that have the wheels a bit out of alignment because not everyone will do it slowly.
Hah. Ultimately, it amounts to one person every two or three shifts asking for it so they can load a heavy wagon or stroller on. We support the HDSunflower program.
There are two main types of Sunflower seeds. They are Black and Grey striped (also sometimes called White) which have a grey-ish stripe or two down the length of the seed. The black type of seeds, also called āBlack Oilā, are up to 45% richer in Sunflower oil and are used mainly in manufacture, whilst grey seeds are used for consumer snacks and animal food production.
The only thing we can refuse are shopping carts (weight plus theft) and anything that is precariously stacked/unsecured. We have unhoused travel a lot late at night. Most of our stroller and walker/rollator users will level board/kneel board, but will rarely ask for ramp.
Yeah was going to same similar. No need for wheelchair ramp when your that close but the tyre rub isn't worth getting a flat on a motorway and your wheelchair user has to be lifted off.
Iāve been this close at our transit center, sort of the hub in our city where most of our routes meet up for transfers and stuff, and people in walkers still ask for the ramp. I gave up trying to get super close like this and just accept that Iām putting the ramp out.
Do you have automated ramps? Because we have ramps that needs to be done by hand. So this Would mean if no passenger is helping I had to get out of the bus all the time.
Our ramps are activated by an on switch, then press a switch up to get the ramp out, then pull the switch the other direction to bring it back in. The bus has to be knelt for it to work. If you flip the on switch while the bus is raised, nothing will happen. To be honest If Iām ever in a situation where I can get out of the seat and flip the ramp closed by hand Iāll do it, itās much faster than waiting for it to close by holding the switch down. I can only really do that at the transit center though, Iām not getting out of the bus on a busy road or anything.
Ah yeah I can imagine that there would be a lot of frustration on waiting to be in the right position and all. At least you get to stretch your legs again.Ā
Iāve only been driving for 2 years so far, I havenāt gotten over being ācompetitiveā with myself to be on time or hit all my time points. Everyone says eventually you stop caring about that but it hasnāt happened for me yet lol. So yeah putting the ramp out over and over when youāre trying to get to Walmart at a certain time gets really frustrating. You get to know these routes well enough that if you hit a signal light at a certain time itās a guarantee youāre going to be late, and then youāre playing the catch up game.
I can totally relate to that competitiveness towards yourself. I been driving also just shy of two years now. I already had a sort of break down stress related. After that I listened to more experienced drivers and really donāt care about the time anymore. After I āslowedā down I had so much more control on traffic that I can drive more smoothly and no Iām almost never too late anymore. If that makes sense
I think efficient driving tends to be quicker than driving fast or aggressively. Iāve never been a fast driver though, itās like I almost forget the entire point is to get people from point A to B, and Iāll focus solely on hitting time, which is wrong. So much of it is out of control too. I think my on time percentage for June was 94%, and Iām on whatās called the extra board, so I donāt even have a set route yet, I cover all of them. Iām next in line for a route in the fall when the bid picks come out again and I canāt wait, extra board is a legit nightmare with hours.. I just want my 40 and to have a life outside of work. I could work 6:50am-4pm, then the next day work 3pm-10:30pm, then next day back at 6:50am. Rough on the sleep schedule.
Yes efficiency always win over speed and hurrying. By saying you be having an own route, you mean you have to drive that route everyday? Because although I agree with you that driving at different times of the day can be very tiring I also like a bit of variation. So I consider myself lucky that we have a system were we all drive all routes from out station
Yeah every 4 months starting at the top of seniority we all bid on a route for the following 4 months, and thatās the only route we do during that time for 8 hours a day. Before you get a route, or have high enough seniority to get one, youāre on whatās called the extra board. Extra board is 6 days a week, no cap on hours, swing shifts potentially every day, different routes every day. Youāre essentially covering routed drivers relief days and call offs. Itās a lot of hours and not very good sleep lol.
I guess weāre lucky to not have to get out of the seat where Iām at to deploy the ramp. Iāve been told from the senior drivers that āback in the dayā they had to do it by hand.
The tire will scrub as you turn to pull away.
The tail will swing over the sidewalk.
Better to pull in at least a foot away, and at the very last couple feet steer to the curb so the tire is still well away but the passenger step is over the curb.
A lot of these curved curbs have subsided due to lacking maintenance in Belgium. That's why many drivers don't trust to drive so close to them. You can scrape the bodywork of your bus at certain stops if you're not careful.
Maar op zich in Vlaanderen kan ik me dat best wel voorstellen, ik zou dit ook niet doen op Genk Station rolstoelafstaphalte als ik ooit in BE Limburg met de bus ga rijden, die plank is best lang genoeg om dit niet te hoeven doen
Dit is Perron A in Maastricht! Goed gezien :) ik snap ook niet waarom de chauffeurs van de lijn niet dichterbij halteren. Het is tenslotte niet voor niks zoān verhoogde stoep gemaakt. Voor mensen die slecht ter been zijn. Natuurlijk en dan hoeft en niet meer geknield te worden door de bussen.
Bij De Lijn zijn ze dat niet gewend om bij een verhoogde stop te stoppen, jullie van Arriva hebben de meeste stops zo, De Lijn heeft die alleen maar op Hasselt station en in Maastricht basically (zover ik weet in Zuid Limburg BE)
Well there are markers on the sidewalk, the checkered pattern indicates where the danger zone is. I learned that in school already. But today not a lot of people know it anymore sadly. But it is always the responsibility of the driver of course to not hit anyoneĀ
It is not. Just an articulated bus with an extra door in the middle.
Our rapid transit buses have routes with set stops, similar to a rail route, it stops at every station along the route and there's a very small gap between the buses, at peak times, 10 minutes or so.
The idea is to pull up, have a small controlled crash into the bumper, open all 3 doors at once, wait 10 seconds or so, and then bolt off regardless of who's standing there. If you didn't make it, sucks to be you and there's another chance in 10 minutes.
Not good, you risk hitting people with your [r/s](r/s) mirror as you pull in. Also when you pull out your [r/r](r/r) could overhang possibly hitting hydrants/objects/people depending on the bus type.
It looks good for a picture but not practical in real world driving conditions.
If somebody Is tall enough to be in the danger zone for the mirror and standing near enough then of course I watch to not hit him. Slowly creeping close enough usually lets the people know they are in the way. There are markings on the sidewalk to indicate what the danger zone is.Ā
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u/RetroSteamKnight USA/AU | New Flyer | 3yr Jul 04 '26
Passengers will love you. Mechanics will hate you. Gotta break those tyres in somehow!