John Lawson says he’s amazed that even before visitors get to Raglan there’s a long list of rules telling you what is banned on the bus. And John has supplied the photo below to show what he’s talking about. Above the driver on the Route 23 bus, three sets of signs instruct passengers, that there is no loud music, no eating, no smoking, no gum, no littering, and no drinking. The signs carry the imprint of Busit/ Waikato Regional Council.
And John says it is just as well that standing isn’t banned as there’s also passengers still usually standing on both afternoon buses from Hamilton at least as far as Waitetuna.
This is nothing new, each ‘no’ is justifiable.
Why is this even a story?
The story is that there’s still passengers standing on the bus, with the potential for much more damage than any of the other banned activities. It struck me as a contrast that the rule on the bus from Gisborne was a fine of $150 for not wearing a seat belt, but, when I changed to the Raglan bus, it has all these rules displayed 3 times, no seat belts and standing passengers. There’s a poll on this page about Raglan ‘no’ signs (but doesn’t include the bus). A bus management which can display negative signs 3 times, yet not arrange for enough seats on their buses, seems newsworthy.