Bus drivers urge us all to keep on smiling!

First Bus drivers have seen it all - but keep on smiling!

Despite our moaning, modern life in Britain really isn’t all that bad…according to the nation’s bus drivers!

New research of the nation’s bus drivers has revealed a fascinating snapshot into British life – from the viewpoint of those who see and hear the most.

The poll by First Bus, revealed 71-per-cent of the drivers surveyed said they see far more good in the world than bad and half said they are in the privileged position of seeing all walks of life embark their bus.

The poll of drivers who have, on average been behind the wheel of Britain’s buses for at least nine years, said kind gestures from their passengers makes them smile to themselves 11 times a day and estimate they are on the receiving end on 169 ‘thank yous’ on a typical shift.

The research conducted by First Bus found that the typical bus driver has witnessed 42 toddler tantrums in the last year, 14 passionate kisses and 18 students finishing off their homework.

In addition to that, 50 people moaned about the weather, 25 have nodded off and there have been 18 instances where passengers have broken in to a sing-song.

Around 20 individuals have tried telling the driver a better route, 17 have boarded the bus in fancy dress and there have been 10 breastfeeding mums.

Drivers have called for medical assistance eight times in the last 12 months, observed 13 people crying uncontrollably and witnessed 46 episodes of road rage.

Melanie Rees, Customer Experience Director at First Bus, the operator who carried out the research, said: “Very few people are in the privileged position to see such a varied snapshot of British life.

“Our bus drivers are the heart of our business and they have one of the toughest jobs – they get to see Britain at its best, and worst.

"As one of the UK’s biggest bus operators, we know how important the bus service is to local communities and we’re working hard to make it better for our customers.

“Our customer app makes it easy to plan journeys and means customers can see when their bus is coming and all our buses now offer contactless, which means customers don’t need to worry about having the right change to give to their bus driver.

"We’re also investing in new training programmes for our drivers to help them deliver a better service for all our customers and to keep smiling, whatever the day brings!”

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