Scientific research

How miserably do we treat bus drivers? Recently there have been many news stories about violence towards bus drivers. What does this mean? Why do people act like this? Are the bus drivers just miserable grouches, and do they ever smile? Or is it the fault of us Finnish passengers?

There are a few articles and research online about the bus driver greetings. They discuss the matter from different points of view, like why doesnt the bus driver say hello to anybody spontaneously? The results have been very different in morning buses where I have been. Why did the bus driver did not say hello to? Results from city.fi Well, when I greeted the bus driver, they always say hello back to me… so lets see. Results from city.fi

In England and several other countries things are different. Bus drivers are greeted upon arriving on the bus and leaving the bus, how polite. Why arent we Finnish people as polite as them? In some southern European countries even leaving the driver some tip is common, and it is impolite not to leave some.

This research has been done now on a topical subject and it tells the true estimate of at least a few of Helsinkis internal bus lines. How many people actually greet the driver? Do you say hello to the driver or just walk through the front doors?

First bus tour to 58 Pasila-East Center, a Monday morning at around 7.30 am. Research is for three days, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. About the same time in the morning. I climb on the bus and sit on the front seat. Starting at the next stop, I'll be taking up the greetings.

The next results are from night buses on weekends. Both 90N and 97N leave from Helsinkis Central Railway Station and stop near my home at Puotila, so the tour usually takes about 30 minutes. There are usually only five to fifteen people on the bus, and most of them get on at the Railway Station.

The results are tragic. Many times people did not even look at the driver. The bus driver's job is very lonely, because most people dont even seem to notice him. Even less people seem to greet the night bus drivers. Maybe because they have had to wait a long time at the bus stop in a cold weather. The bus drivers act as ticket dispensers. Is this what is called customer service these days?

Mira S. Arto E. English course 6.2 Special thanks to: Bus drivers from the lines 58, 58B, 90N and 97N