PROPANE FIRE
• • City going after Sunrise for cleanup cash [ Toronto Sun ]
• Propane plant wanted to expand [ CBC.ca ]
•
• Claims against propane firm total $900-million [ Globe and Mail ]
• Five more blast-area homes deemed safe [ National Post ]
• • Tag adds to gas pain [ Toronto Sun ]
TRANSIT
• Driver’s won’t call bus stops [ National Post ]
• Woman accused of hitting bus driver with hammer [ Globe and Mail ]
• Mother, daughter step up to stop hammer attack on bus [ National Post ]
• Bus driver hit with hammer [ Toronto Sun ]
• Police impounded hundreds of vehicles for street racing [ National Post ]
• 505 lose cars since racing laws passed [ Toronto Sun ]
CNE
• • A day at the Ex [ Toronto Sun ]
NEIGHBOURHOODS
•
• • Anti-beggars on patrol [ Toronto Sun ]
• Crime, punishment at the Market [ National Post ]
MISCELLANEOUS
• • Ramped up for 2010 [ Toronto Sun ]
• New park ‘wipes away sadness’ [ Toronto Sun ]
3 comments
“”You cannot drive and read — that’s impossible,” said Vito Tomas, president of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1572.”
So how do the bus drivers read stop and other signs ?
I wonder if the Mississauga Transit union objects to their bus drivers reading the newspaper while operating their buses? I’ve seen that happen frequently….
Many of their drivers are good at calling out stops, especially if someone asks directions on how to get somewhere. It doesn’t seem that difficult. And once you do you route a bunch of times, you probably don’t even have to read the signs anymore.
Actually…the “next stop” signs in Mississauga are great for passengers too. Even if the driver doesn’t call them out, it gives me an idea of what’s coming up.
I know many of us like to make fun of bus drivers but, in all fairness, “reading” stop signs and other road signs is just not the same as having to “read out loud” each stop. In the first type of “reading” is really just the maintaining of alertness to the road conditions, situation and location — something that is absolutely necessary to safe driving. The second type of reading or rather “reading out loud” amounts to an added activity and onus and responsibility on the driver that may in fact interfere with safe driving, particulary if traffic conditions are hectic, or if the bus driver is a novice driving that particular route. I’m not a bus driver but I think it would drive most people batty to have to read out each and every stop hour after hour. To those think calling out every stop isn’t such a big deal, I would suggest you try driving for a few hours calling out the names of every second or third intersection. (Oh and don’t forget to put a few cranky people/kids in the back seat to approximate the experience of a bus full of passengers.) Then maybe you can comment on whether this supposedly simple task interferes with driving ability or not.