Request ID: FOI-2472-2122 Date published: 11 February 2022
You asked
How are your drivers trained? I have regular issues with metroline who you sub contact the route too. Only this week I have had to go and turn engines of myself and get abuse for doing so! Nearly 2 years I've had to put up with this and a driver has been arrested for threatening me at my own doorstep! What training classes do you provide, I would love to sit one.please let me know as half the drivers here seems to be picked up from the street and just given a uniform
We answered
TfL Ref: FOI-2472-2122
Thank you for your request received by Transport for London (TfL) on 27th January 2022 asking for information about bus driver training.
Your request has been considered in accordance with the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act and our information access policy.
Specifically you asked:
“Idling:How are your drivers trained? I have regular issues with metroline who you sub contact the route too. Only this week I have had to go and turn engines of myself and get abuse for doing so! Nearly 2 years I've had to put up with this and a driver has been arrested for threatening me at my own doorstep! What training classes do you provide, I would love to sit one.please let me know as half the drivers here seems to be picked up from the street and just given a uniform”.
Buses in London operating under the TfL banner are run by private companies under contract with TfL. It is for those private operators to recruit and train their drivers in line with TfL standards - for example, as set out in the “Big Red Book” (the bus driver’s operating manual). On the specific question of idling, bus drivers are trained and regularly reminded to switch running engines off if they not about to go into service. As an example, the Big Red Book contains the following instruction:
“When you are at a bus stand: You must switch off your engine. Leaving it running wastes fuel, is a noise nuisance, damages health and is an offence. London borough officers may also issue you with an on-the-spot penalty fine.”
And:
“When you are at a bus station: Switch off your engine as soon as you can.”
At many garages operators display posters reminding drivers to do this, and TfL monitors some of the busiest interchange areas of the network and instructs drivers to switch off if they are idling. Bus operators are also attempting to solve this issue at the source by introducing hybrid diesel-electric buses that offer automatic shut-off technology. This turns the engine off if the bus is not moving or if the accelerator is not being pressed. We currently have in excess of 600 electric buses and a small number of hydrogen-powered buses in London’s bus fleet and this number is growing steadily as this becomes the standard for London over the coming years.
If this is not the information you are looking for please do not hesitate to contact me.
Please see the attached information sheet for details of your right to appeal as well as information on copyright and what to do if you would like to re-use any of the information we have disclosed.
Yours sincerely,
David Wells FOI Case Officer FOI Case Management Team General Counsel Transport for London
