Rude People
Posted by Fred Jandt
Mass Transit magazine editor
Transit has a stigma — well more than one — attached to it. More likely, it has a stigma attached to its riders. That its riders are rude, poor and that nefarious “bad element” no one seems to be able to define clearly. I’m skipping the latter two today because the first one is undeniably true and I think we bring it on ourselves.
Now, when its riders are rude, I don’t mean all riders. But there are a significant portion of riders whose bad behavior has become the fodder for a lifetime of stand-up comedy routines. Let’s take the guy who puts his feet up on the seat across from him. Or how about the loud cell phone talker who gets mad when they are asked to tone it down. Or the person who uses transit as their personal office spreading themselves out over several seats who is imposed on when the vehicle fills up. Or my personal favorite, the person with the earphones and music so loud you can hear them two seats away anyway.
All of these people are truly rude and again I think it’s our fault. I recently got an agency newsletter in the mail that included letters from riders complaining about other riders. Unfortunately, almost universally the agency response was what do you want us to do about it.
You know what? That’s a stupid stance to take. If someone takes the time and effort to contact an agency about a problem (and they’re not a crank — those you usually can spot right away), then they’re the tip of the proverbial iceberg when it comes to a problem. For every person who has contacted an agency about someone playing their music too loud, numerous others have just sat there and suffered in silence.
And what do we do about it? Largely nothing. On a bus, we can complain to the driver who will politely tell the person to stop whatever rude behavior they seem oblivious (or feel entitled) to. On the train the conductor fills that role. And what comes of it? Hopefully the person will stop whatever they are doing, but a brief admonishment is no guarantee.
When that conductor on the train walks away you’re left with two people who might as well be kids in a teacherless classroom, the tattler and tattled on. That never goes well. I’ve heard more than once of a passenger berating another about asking a conductor or driver to have them stop being rude.
Why don’t we boot these people off the bus or train? Have them move to a different car or just pull the bus over and tell them to get out? So many agencies have told me their vehicles are “self-policing.” Why is that? Why must we put up with rude people?
I understand that for a long time transit was happy for every rider it could get. But now with booming riderships do we need to maintain this policy? Wouldn’t transit be better served making the car/bus full of riders happy by kicking the one rude guy off rather than just putting up with him until his stop?
As transit’s popularity grows, I think we need to adapt our thought processes from being thankful for every rider to making patrons thankful for every ride.
Thanks for reading the MT Position updated every Friday,
Fred
fred.jandt@cygnusb2b.com
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May 15th, 2009 at 12:09 pm
Well stated.
Bus pulls over, returns fare, asks rider to get off. Zero tolerance for rude behavior.
May 17th, 2009 at 7:40 am
SEPTA has instituted a “quiet car” as the first car on all peak hour trains of three cars or more. Passenger attendants announce the rules, which are actually posted on all cars, and try to enforce them. I have heard that the rules, which include speaking in low tones or whispering in the car as well as no cell phone converstations or loud computer beeps, appear to be working on SEPTA so far. I have also heard that the quiet cars on Amtrak are not well enforced.
May 17th, 2009 at 12:39 pm
Ah. Now, were in MY WORLD.
I actually teach a course in passenger realtions at The Bus And Motorcoach Academy.
After years of having to “referee the playground”, you really have to learn to choose your battles. Even the transit operator (in this case, the poor schmuck behind the controls) has good days and bad days. Add to that, most training courses don’t adequately cover passenger relations (does yours? go check!). The bus driver or rail operator can instantly become the bad guy without knowing what he or she is getting themselves into.
It all comes down to TACT. There is no one (good) way to respond to another passengers request to police the playpen. The “Don’t Make Me Come Back There” approach (I’ve pateneted that, btw) doesn’t always work (damn!). The other thing that often happens, is you may have a bus full of “armchair quarterbacks” that will second guess the driver, and either critcize the drivers actions back at the driver, or write a “nastygram” to the transit agency, or even worse, the news media (we’ve all seen that).
What it comes down to also, is how do you define rude behavior? When is a social faux paux become a major offense? Not every “criminal act” justifies tossing someone off the transit system. One person has their iPod a bit too loud, another has The Chicago Tribune open wide and spread out over their seatmate. A waitress who has been on her feet all night has relived herself of her shoes, while a young mother is trying to comfort one cranky child while the other is on a sugar rush…
As the captain of the ship, you have to take it all with a grain of salt. Keep your sense of humor and realize that you have your bad days, and things could be worse. I always tried to approach offensive passengers with a smile and a voice of reason — not authotity. No, not all outcomes will be the same, and not everybody will be happy with being confronted — nor will witnesses be totally happy with your decision. I’ve been caled on the carpet often after “other anonymous passengers” called or wrote the transit authority with their opinion on my being too wimpy or heavy handed (and yes, I have physically thrown passengers off a vehicle!). It’s a fine line we walk. Choose your battles. Some wars are best left unfought. It’s a short life, if we all just got along…
May 18th, 2009 at 9:20 am
This time you’ve got it right. Something should be done. The “quality” of people using transit in some areas is so bad that it scares prospective customers away. Who wants to ride on a bus with a bunch of inconsiderate hoodlums?
May 18th, 2009 at 12:04 pm
We’re a nation full of many people who refuse to take responsibility for bad behavior. There’s always an excuse or a sense of entitlement.
Sure, many people will ignore instructions to improve their behavior when asked to do so. But that’s because of this ridiculous attitude of “nobody tells me what to do” of many Americans. But in the end it’s still worth it for drivers (and passengers!) to kindly ask someone to change their behavior, because I think many WILL change their the NEXT time they ride. It’s just that pride will prevent them from acknowledging it the day their berated. The NEXT time, they won’t want to face the berating of others. Just be patient (and strong)!
May 18th, 2009 at 4:19 pm
When I was a car operator in the 1940’s we (generally)had the luxury of a conductor to handle passenger problems on heavy runs.
Now most transit vehicles are one person operated and
may still not have built in vehicle-supervisor com equipment, but the operator could use a cell phone to call for assistance. Why then the recent rush to forbid
cell phone availability on the demeaning assumption that a person trained for and trusted with the responsibility for passenger safety can’t be relied on to NOT use that phone in improper/distracting ways ?
May 19th, 2009 at 7:21 pm
Fred - we Muni Ladies are pleased to see that agencies recognize their part in helping riders clean up their act! While we expel the wisdom of modern day etiquette surrounding many of the scenarios you’ve mentioned, agencies have to enforce these rules to help change behavior..one rider at a time!