Dear Editor – thank you for allowing me share my personal thoughts here about certain bus conductors and their behaviours towards passengers.
I think our bus drivers and conductors need basic customer service training.
Last week, I saw someone who was about to punch a bus conductor because of something the conductor said to him while he was waiting for his colleague at the bus stop.
The man was waiting for his colleague at the bus stop, while the bus came to a halt after the bus conductor announced his bus destination and the amount of room available on his bus.
“Uncle, space 3, Market,” the bus conductor said to the man who was standing at the bus stop while waiting for his colleague.
“No, thanks,” the man said, and the bus conductor replied, “what are you waiting for, you’re waiting for a train.” That man then approached the bus conductor and asked questions about his words, threatening to hit him in the face.
To cut a long story short, the bus conductor apologized later.
It’s not the first time our bus conductors have said something like, “Are you waiting for a train?” We hear something like that about once or twice a year.
When taking a public bus, passengers experience plenty of additional issues.
Only if the Honiara Bus Association, in partnership with the Honiara City Council, provides a basic customer service training for our dedicated bus drivers and conductors, will we be able to address this issue.
Maverick P. Seda
Honiara
