Does anyone here drive a bus?

Castiel said:
You will find that the jerkiness you feel on some buses is not always to do with the brakes but because the downshift on the automatic gearbox is sometimes quite sudden and creates engine braking that the retarder is slow to respond to. Also the air suspension contributes to the feel when a bus slows and stops. Some buses are better than others.

The brakes are air operated, which means that air pushes the brake pad away from the disc and when you depress the brake pedal it releases air so that the brakes engage, hence no air pressure the brakes will not disengage. This system is not as smooth as hydraulic brakes in cars which push onto the discs.


The driver is rarely at fault.
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Not a nice way to refer to the driver! :D
 
Castiel said:
It's a bus, not a HGV. The driver cannot drain the air tanks. The two vehicles are completely different to drive hence the different classification.

Most buses are fitted with RIBAS which reports erratic driving and the majority of complaints revolving around this issue is the public thinking a bus acts like a car, which it does not.
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Oh, my mistake, there was me thinking buses were - admittedly heavily modified - HGV chassis based?

I find it hard to believe a driver can't drain his own air tanks - its not exactly easy with an HGV mind - you have to get under the bloomin' thing to do it...

And with the greatest of respect, theres not much difference between a two axle bus & a two axle rigid from a mere driving point of view.

I was told this years ago when I had a driving assesment for First Group, the drive merely underlined this for me.
 
K1LLSW1TCH said:
So aren't you going to tell us the story or??? :(
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Not much to it.

He was a touch mental. He got drunk, some altercation or being abusive to passangers. Thrown off the bus.

He ran to the next stop a few miles down the road to catch it again as the driver was having a break, quite a feat for someone with prosthetic knees, and got on and threw the driver off after a wee fisty cuffs, pulled the bus out on the road and started off back up the road to Aberdeen.

With some 30+ people stuck on board scared out their wits apparently.

He parked the bus up in an estate and let everyone off, and was finally caught up by the local constabulary in his local, wearing a crash helmet smoking hamlets apparently.

It's not the best story I have by far, but the only one I have that could possibly fit into the thread! :p
 
R420LA6X2/4MNA said:
Oh, my mistake, there was me thinking buses were - admittedly heavily modified - HGV chassis based?

I find it hard to believe a driver can't drain his own air tanks - its not exactly easy with an HGV mind - you have to get under the bloomin' thing to do it...

And with the greatest of respect, theres not much difference between a two axle bus & a two axle rigid from a mere driving point of view.

I was told this years ago when I had a driving assesment for First Group, the drive merely underlined this for me.
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I have both PCV (D) and HGV (C+E) and they are worlds apart. A bus driver cannot drain his own tanks, unfortunately a fitter would need to do it manually.

Bus chassis' are not modified HGV chassis', they are completely separate designs. They used to many years ago share chassis, but that is no longer the case.

http://www.volvobuses.com/bus/global/en-gb/products/City buses/Volvo 7700/Pages/introduction.aspx

I expect on your assessment you were taken out in a Coach, probably manual which is a world away from a service bus both in ride quality and driving experience.
 
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Drove buses 15 years ago.Was trained on a variety of different types.They could most certainly be braked smoothly.Almost every time I catch a bus I'm shocked at the poor standard of driving.I'm not sure whether it's the driver training,poor attitude or the current crop of buses but I can't see bus manufacturers moving backwards in passenger comfort.
 
ExRayTed said:
Drove buses 15 years ago.Was trained on a variety of different types.They could most certainly be braked smoothly.Almost every time I catch a bus I'm shocked at the poor standard of driving.I'm not sure whether it's the driver training,poor attitude or the current crop of buses but I can't see bus manufacturers moving backwards in passenger comfort.
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Trust me, driving a Bristol VR or an Olympian is quite different from a Spectra or the current Mercedes Citaros. The latter are rubbish.
 
ExRayTed said:
Really? Such a shame.The older daimlers and metrobuses were awesome to drive.
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The modern crop are poorly built in comparison, we took delivery of a few dozen Scania Deckers last year, they are already popping rivets, collapsing airbags and dodgy electrics.

Unfortunately it's par for the course. Bring back the proper coachbuilding that would solve the problem.
 
Castiel said:
I have both PCV (D) and HGV (C+E) and they are worlds apart. A bus driver cannot drain his own tanks, unfortunately a fitter would need to do it manually.

Bus chassis' are not modified HGV chassis', they are completely separate designs. They used to many years ago share chassis, but that is no longer the case.

http://www.volvobuses.com/bus/global/en-gb/products/City buses/Volvo 7700/Pages/introduction.aspx

I expect on your assessment you were taken out in a Coach, probably manual which is a world away from a service bus both in ride quality and driving experience.
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I bow to your superior knowledge, little wonder the brakes grab if the driver has to get a spanner monkey to do it for him!!
The vehicle I drove on my assesment was a large "Optare" Bus, with an auto box, which was quite harsh with its gear changes, whilst the front & rear over hang was very different, imo it was not that far removed from a 4 wheel rigid....
 
R420LA6X2/4MNA said:
I bow to your superior knowledge, little wonder the brakes grab if the driver has to get a spanner monkey to do it for him!!
The vehicle I drove on my assesment was a large "Optare" Bus, with an auto box, which was quite harsh with its gear changes, whilst the front & rear over hang was very different, imo it was not that far removed from a 4 wheel rigid....
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Not all buses are the same, you can drive one which jerks all the time and then another of the same type which is fine.

You'll find though that most of the complaints are due to the passenger walking down the gangway whilst the bus is slowing and getting jerked forward when the bus stops and the suspension settles, Drivers of either buses or lorries wouldn't notice it as much.
 
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