Students; Two Days, Two Incidents.

Wednesday I pulled up at the stop by Torbay Leisure Centre where about 15 people were waiting to catch a bus in the direction of Brixham. They were mostly foreign language students but there were also two gang leaders. One of the students was not wearing a shirt and I explained to the gang leader that the student would have to put a shirt on if he wanted to get on the bus. This is Torquay after all, not Blackpool. Then the student filed on the bus showing their bus passes before going upstairs. However the last two students didn't bother with their passes and I called them back so they could show their passes. They pretended not to understand and stood at the bottom of the stairs while the gang leader explained to them that we have this quaint custom in England of paying for your bus rides. So I watched in the mirror that lets me see what passengers are doing on the bus and what these two passengers were doing was taking two passes from students standing on the stairs. God; I've never seen that trick before, not this week anyway. Now I had three choices, I could pretend that I had not seen this exchange and let them travel. I would sooner walk into Anfield Football ground with a banner saying "Man U are the best football team in the world". Choice two would be to check all the students already on the bus and those without passes could pay the fare. That takes too long and is not fair on those passenger who just want to get to Brixham. Choice three was ask the whole party to get of the bus and wait for the next bus and tell the driver of the next bus to what had happened. At one stage the male gang leader told me not to get too upset by all this. I just told him I wasn't upset; just annoyed. He seemed to think it was all a mistake and they meant to show their passes but forgot. Yeh, right. Like I meant to pay my income tax but forgot

The problem with the bus passes is that the students are not compelled to buy them but once they have spent a day using the buses the realise that paying all those bus fare can be an expensive business and start to play pass the pass. I can not understand why the language schools don't include the cost of the bus pass in the cost of the course. It would save me having to be nasty now and then.

The second incident left me feeling a certain amount of sympathy for a group of students. On the way into Brixham there is a Go Cart Race Track which is popular with people who like going fast. Me I just drive a bus. It is next to the Brixham Park and Ride site which is not actually up and running until next Monday. There is however a bus shelter and in big yellow letters the words Bus Stop are spread out in the roadway for all to drive over. This group had come out of the Go Carts and were standing at, what appeared to them to be a bus stop and wondering why all the buses were driving past without stopping. Well we can't until next Monday when the Par & Ride opens.

I have suggested that a fixed, durable notice be put in the shelter explaining that the stop only works when the Park and Ride is operating but as with many of the things I suggest nothing gets done.

As you can see the Park and Ride does get well used and is cheaper than driving into Brixham, adding to the traffic,and trying to find a parking place. I have heard that it will be there all year round from now on and not just in Summer so no need for the notice after all.

Big day on Saturday for Torquay United FC, their first game as a non league club, a friendly against Plymouth Argle. If they were playing a team made up of Plymouth Argle supporters they might just stand a chance of getting a result. Not a great football fan but good luck to the team now they are in the Blue Square Premier Division and are presently 21st out of 24 according to the BBC web page.