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a bus ‘Captain’ who will move around the saloon, talking to passengers about the service and answering any questions they may have, demonstrating what a future

a bus ‘Captain’ who will move around the saloon, talking to passengers about the service and answering any questions they may have, demonstrating what a future service night feel like... They use to call these "bus conductors" before they sacked them all to save money. https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Bus_conductor https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Bus_conductor

seanmcdirmid 5y ago
They weren’t so much sacked as they were made obsolete by technology and rising productivity. You could still find bus conductors in China even just 10 years ago where they still made sense a bit (if only to collect fares).
- mellosouls 5y ago
  Yes, I included the link for more useful context, but ultimately I think it comes down to the same thing.
- ClumsyPilot 5y ago
  Nice doublespeak
- Neekerer 5y ago
  Many busses still have them in China
- pkphilip 5y ago
  We still have them here in India
  - midasuni 5y ago
    Last time I was in Delhi (about 5 years ago) there were still elevator operators. Not only completely useless to me as a user, but also taking up space preventing people getting in when it’s busy.
    - hemreldop 5y ago
      People in India just need jobs. It’s not even functional in many cases though the presence of a person feels nice in a lot of these places.
      - midasuni 5y ago
        You can pay someone to do something that’s not needed, and maybe it gives them a sense of purpose based on a Victorian/puritanical view of the world (rather than just giving the money regardless) However to me it’s like doormen and bellboys at US hotels or people behind a counter at a shop, it’s unnecessary human contact (which is horrendous), and it reduces functionality (reducing capacity of fixed infrastructre) A better solution would be to employ people in more productive enterprises.
hanoz 5y ago
I hope this isn't a case of how many people does it take to drive an autonomous bus? Two, one to drive it, and the other to wander round telling passengers it's autonomous.
mytailorisrich 5y ago
Yes, the point of autonomous buses is partly to get rid of the human driver, so they are obviously not going to create a new position to continue to have a human on-board. This is temporary until people are used to, and confident about, a bus with no driver, and until law allows no emergency driver on-board.
- dazc 5y ago
  Precedent being lift/elevator operators, I suppose?
dazc 5y ago
I don't remeber bus conductors being that friendly and helpful though, tbh.
- mellosouls 5y ago
  I don't believe you, I've seen "On The Buses'
HigherPlain 5y ago
That's a slightly "luddite" interpretation. The bus conductor job-class was outmoded by technology. More jobs are created at a higher technology level. This is how society has progressed for all history. A fantastic Mitchell and Webb comedy sketch on this topic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nyu4u3VZYaQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nyu4u3VZYaQ
sixQuarks 5y ago
Or in the US, picking up used needles, cleaning vomit, piss and fecal matter.

seanmcdirmid 5y ago

They weren’t so much sacked as they were made obsolete by technology and rising productivity. You could still find bus conductors in China even just 10 years ago where they still made sense a bit (if only to collect fares).

mellosouls 5y ago
Yes, I included the link for more useful context, but ultimately I think it comes down to the same thing.
ClumsyPilot 5y ago
Nice doublespeak
Neekerer 5y ago
Many busses still have them in China
pkphilip 5y ago
We still have them here in India
- midasuni 5y ago
  Last time I was in Delhi (about 5 years ago) there were still elevator operators. Not only completely useless to me as a user, but also taking up space preventing people getting in when it’s busy.
  - hemreldop 5y ago
    People in India just need jobs. It’s not even functional in many cases though the presence of a person feels nice in a lot of these places.
    - midasuni 5y ago
      You can pay someone to do something that’s not needed, and maybe it gives them a sense of purpose based on a Victorian/puritanical view of the world (rather than just giving the money regardless) However to me it’s like doormen and bellboys at US hotels or people behind a counter at a shop, it’s unnecessary human contact (which is horrendous), and it reduces functionality (reducing capacity of fixed infrastructre) A better solution would be to employ people in more productive enterprises.

hanoz 5y ago

I hope this isn't a case of how many people does it take to drive an autonomous bus? Two, one to drive it, and the other to wander round telling passengers it's autonomous.

mytailorisrich 5y ago

Yes, the point of autonomous buses is partly to get rid of the human driver, so they are obviously not going to create a new position to continue to have a human on-board. This is temporary until people are used to, and confident about, a bus with no driver, and until law allows no emergency driver on-board.

dazc 5y ago
Precedent being lift/elevator operators, I suppose?

dazc 5y ago

I don't remeber bus conductors being that friendly and helpful though, tbh.

mellosouls 5y ago
I don't believe you, I've seen "On The Buses'

HigherPlain 5y ago

That's a slightly "luddite" interpretation. The bus conductor job-class was outmoded by technology. More jobs are created at a higher technology level. This is how society has progressed for all history. A fantastic Mitchell and Webb comedy sketch on this topic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nyu4u3VZYaQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nyu4u3VZYaQ

sixQuarks 5y ago

Or in the US, picking up used needles, cleaning vomit, piss and fecal matter.