Bus Driver allocation

[Ronnoc]

Depends on the route -

the 37 and 966 go to Poplar Road first. They then head down station road towards a large island. At the island they take the second exit. Then about 100-150 metres down that road they turn right into the "station approach." They terminate at the stops at the far north end of the station. When they've had their break they head along the rest of the road. At the lights they turn right. They head down Streetsbrook Road back towards the large island. They take the second exit again back into Poplar Road.


6, 76, 49, S4

These come down Blossomfield Road - they go past the station approach road and continue to the large island. They take the 3rd exit into Poplar Road, and drop off in Poplar Road. After that they turn left, onto the Warwick Road. They turn left at the next island and head back towards the large island. There they take the 4th exit, and head up Streetsbrook Road. They turn left into the station and terminate on the eastern side of the station. Once finished there, they head down to the large island, and then do the reverse of what I've just explained. It's a bit of a long winded route, and a pain when there is traffic.

If the 6, 49 or 76 is running over 10 minutes late, the drivers may be told to just skip the station. Therefore at the large island, they head straight over towards the warwick road. Then do the right turn into it, and then right again into Poplar Road, to pick up the outbound passengers.

Hope that is clear! If you want I can do a quick map of it

A map would really help! Thanks

[Tony]

This also may be a weird question but how does a bus driver memorize the routes? Does he be in training for it? Does he get a map showing where to turn?

Depends on the driver. If you have a good knowledge of the area you are driving then learning the route is a lot easier. Once you know some routes that intersect with the one you are learning, again, that helps. And if you are like me, who at one point in the 1990s knew every single route at every garage [1], the last few are simple to learn

[1] - I haven't kept up with some of the more recent changes, but still know a couple of hundred different routes

[Tony]

Depends on the route -

the 37 and 966 go to Poplar Road first. They then head down station road towards a large island. At the island they take the second exit. Then about 100-150 metres down that road they turn right into the "station approach." They terminate at the stops at the far north end of the station. When they've had their break they head along the rest of the road. At the lights they turn right. They head down Streetsbrook Road back towards the large island. They take the second exit again back into Poplar Road.


6, 76, 49, S4

These come down Blossomfield Road - they go past the station approach road and continue to the large island. They take the 3rd exit into Poplar Road, and drop off in Poplar Road. After that they turn left, onto the Warwick Road. They turn left at the next island and head back towards the large island. There they take the 4th exit, and head up Streetsbrook Road. They turn left into the station and terminate on the eastern side of the station. Once finished there, they head down to the large island, and then do the reverse of what I've just explained. It's a bit of a long winded route, and a pain when there is traffic.

If the 6, 49 or 76 is running over 10 minutes late, the drivers may be told to just skip the station. Therefore at the large island, they head straight over towards the warwick road. Then do the right turn into it, and then right again into Poplar Road, to pick up the outbound passengers.

Hope that is clear! If you want I can do a quick map of it

A map would really help! Thanks

If you want to see maps of any route just go to http://jp.networkwestmidlands.com/centro/XSLT_SELTT_REQUEST?language=en, put in you route number and when the list of services with that number come up just click on where it says map on the right next to the service you want

[Liberator9]

Knowing an area greatly helps, and frequently travelling the route. As I know the Solihull area well, and use the routes a lot I know most of the YW and AG routes - 76, 6, 84, 50, although useless on the 18 and 49 (west of Maypole) and 27. AG routes 37, S1 are fairly simple, and the 5. I know the 58 and 957 at BC as well - 17 at BY is the only one east of the Coventry Road.

[Trident 4194]

Do you get to choose what route you would like to be on?

[wbdriver]

Do you get to choose what route you would like to be on?

you can ask, but you will be on a rota with different routes and areas to go through. At WB, there is only the 40 on its own. all other routes are rota based.

[Trident 4609]

It probably doesn't apply all the time but i have noticed that some drivers drive the routes they live near eg several 529 drivers live along or near the route or several of WN59's drivers live along that route