Driving back from dropping off my daughter at a party on Saturday night, I passed a bus going in the other direction. Its brightly lit destination panel proudly proclaimed that it was ‘Not In Service’. Worn like a badge of honour.
Since my days living in north London, the mystery of the ‘Not In Service’ bus that roars past the stop at which you’ve been standing for twenty minutes or more in the evening drizzle has left me baffled. The bus has obviously not broken down and the driver is able bodied. Taking it out of service must be for the benefit of the operating company only.
Blow a Raspberry
An alternative to the ‘Not In Service’ sign, therefore, would be an image of a tongue sticking out and, as the bus passed each stop at which people were waiting patiently for their bus, it could blare out a loud raspberry from its horn. This would have the added benefit of frightening the elderly and small children, as well as simply infuriating all disappointed passengers.
People are generally not unreasonable. If the bus needs to be taken out of service. tell us why. The difference between waiting on a station for a train that is delayed and being given no information and one where the station master (remember those?) keeps you up to date with estimated arrival times is the difference between a potential riot and a calm acceptance. All customers ask for is to be treated with respect and giving them information is the simplest and most cost-effective way to achieve that.
We Can Handle Bad News
‘Not In Service’ is not information. It’s a slap. If the bus is fit to move, pick up passengers or even stop and tell people why they can’t use the bus. If not, use the sign ‘Sorry, Bus Not Safe’ or ‘Bus Needed For More Important People’ or ‘Driver Late For A Date’. Give us something on which to hang an emotional response.
When you remove an expected and anticipated service at short notice, it’s surely a given that you need to tell your customers what’s happening and why.
