This is
Holicombe, between Preston and
Torquay, AKA The Gas Works. The hole in the road was filled in by 11:30 this morning but the lights were still there at 12:50, 13:55, 16:10, 17:55 and 18:45. Probable still there. What wasn't there were any road workers. So the question is, what did they fill the hole with? Jelly. And are they waiting for it to set before we can drive over it?
Second or maybe third question is how come so many students who attend South Devon College are unable to comprehend written English? Devon Council Council provide a bus pass for students at a cheap rate so it doesn't cost them the earth to go and learn things at the collage. The student I am going to mention here told me his pass had cost £270 for the academic year. Now going back to my school days, we attended 39 weeks in a year so £270 divided by 39 equals £6.92 per week. £6.92 divided by 5 equals £1.38 a day.
Now to buy a ticket each day from Newton return to the collage would be £4.00 or a weekly ticket for a South Devon Collage student can be bought for £14.00. So the Devon Council bus pass looks good value. And it is, but there are limits to it's value. The other two tickets can be used for unlimited travel anywhere in the
Torbay area and all the way to Newton. The Devon Council pass can only be used when the college is open, not Saturday or Sunday, and can only be used for one return journey between home and college. No where else. And this point is laid out clearly in a letter sent out with the pass.
Now this student got on the bus at Tor Park Rd which is in
Torquay and his pass said for use between Newton Abbot and South Devon College
Paignton. Neither is anywhere close to Tor Park Rd. I explained that he could not use the pass when getting on at this stop. He opened with I can use it anywhere between college and Newton. No. You can use it for a journey between the college and Newton. What you are trying to do is use it for a journey between Tor Park Rd and Newton and that isn't what it says on the pass or in the letter of terms and conditions sent out with the pass. I offered him the option of paying the fare or walking. He carried on arguing. I even got on the radio and asked control if he could use the pass. Control said "NO". He still carried on repeating that he had paid £270 for the pass again and again. Entertaining as this was, in the end I had to go and he didn't come up with the fare so I asked him to leave the bus and let me transport those people who had paid their fare to where they wanted to go.
He got off, hoping the next bus driver would be kinder. The next bus driver told him exactly what I had told him, pay or get off. He paid.
Such incidents happen at least once a week and do take up a lot of time. The above incident actually took 5 minutes which is a long time to be stopped if you are a passenger wanting to get home or a person at a stop
further up the road wondering where the bus is. Personally I think once we have explained the terms and conditions in such an incident we should punch a hole in the pass. Then next time they get on the bus at the wrong stop and try to use it the drivers knows they have had the rules explained and can relieve holder of pass. Save a lot of time.
Above is a photo of the relevant terms and conditions of use that every student receives when they get their bus pass. I have underlined the most important parts; i.e. used only between the points shown on the pass, one return journey between home and college not anywhere to anywhere, misuse can result in the ticket being withdrawn and relevant to the other night, behaviour of an unacceptable standard and bus companies may refuse to carry the student. I refused him travel on two grounds. One, he was trying to use, or misuse, the pass at a place not stated on the pass and two, even after I had carefully explained why he could not use the pass and contacted control on the radio who also said he could not use the pass he continued to argue thereby delaying the bus and those passengers who were on the bus and those standing in the cold at stops further up the road. This I found unacceptable and asked him to leave the bus.
