How to get on a bus

How to get on a bus: idiot's guide published
By Sophie Borland

An idiot’s guide explaining how to get on and off a bus has been produced for people who have a phobia of public transport.

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According to Stagecoach, which has created the step-by-step manual, a large proportion of Britain’s population are now so used to travelling by car that they have become scared of buses.


Download Stagecoach's guide
In order to encourage use of public transport, the firm has come up with the “Using the Bus” guide which sets out the most basic information possible.

The guide begins reassuringly with: “Using the bus could not be easier.”

It goes on to warn that passengers should “first of all decide on what bus you need” and once the right bus has been spotted, with the “number and destination on the front”, one should then “signal for the driver to stop.”

The guide continues: “Wait until the bus is stopped and the doors are fully opened and step on board.”

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Those standing while seats are available are told: “Please feel free to use the fold-down seats.”

The guide even goes as far as setting out procedures for disembarking and says: “When you want to get off, press the bell once. For your safety we recommend you remain seated until the bus has arrived at the stop.”

A spokesman for Stagecoach, which runs 7,000 buses and coaches from Devon in the south west to Inverness in the Scottish Highlands, said that research had shown many members of the public do not know how to use public transport.



Steven Stewart, from Stagecoach, said: “If we look back 30 or 40 years, catching a bus was part of our daily routine from when we were children.

“Our guide is not designed to be patronising, it’s just answering questions that cause fear and uncertainty when people are thinking of getting a bus.”

A Stagecoach campaign encouraging more use of public transport has now contacted 610,000 people across the country, giving out versions of the guide and offering free travel passes.