2 ms·

I am pretty selfish even though I haven't had a car for years... That said, as a regular user of public transport in two Czech cities that have excellent and w

I am pretty selfish even though I haven't had a car for years... That said, as a regular user of public transport in two Czech cities that have excellent and well-funded public transport (Prague and Ostrava), you probably don't realize many of the downsides. Public transport works best for mass movements of people from point A to point B. E.g. young students going from dormitories to lectures at 8 AM, or many people traveling from a big residential neighbourhood to an industrial plant that employs them. The student thing is still real, the industrial plant isn't anymore. When I was a kid in the 1980s, full buses of workers went to steelworks at the outskirts of Ostrava, nowadays these are either gone, or have automatized to the degree that they employ 5 per cent of the people as before. There is a lot of tangential relations that public transport doesn't service well. A teacher I know teaches in one village and lives in another. By car, that is 15 minutes. By public transport, some 90 and the route is physically almost three times as long. So selfish of her not to take it, eh! /s And I can already hear all the good advice: she should "just" find a job closer to her home. Not easy if schools are closing down for lack of kids, and she is a specialist (singing). Or: the public transport authority should "just" introduce more buses, even if they are inefficient in certain routes. It should "just" pay bus drivers much more to attract some (there is a shortage). Not easy if already a third of the municipal budget goes towards public transport, taxes in CZ are not exactly low and the population is growing older, thus losing its tax base. The costs are very real and a small country with an expensive healthcare system, an expensive pension system and now threatened with Russia cannot really shower much more money on everything at once. Public transport may yet gain some strength from fully autonomous driving, IF it is ever solved. Unwillingness of people to get into the driver career (the money isn't that bad, but getting up at 4 am and being responsible for dozens of human lives on board are two major negative factors) is a big factor in its overall economy. But it is, at best, a significant help. Not a panacea. Our lives have grown too disorganized for that. Gone are the days when everyone started their work at 6 am at the sound of the factory whistle and lived in the same worker's colony. (Some of which are still extant here in Ostrava, and now protected as cultural heritage.)

seabass-labrax 2y ago
I think you make a lot of good points. However, I'm not sure a shortage of bus drivers can be just down to unwillingness. As far as non-office jobs go, I'd imagine it's on the comfortable end: a heated/air-conditioned space, a moderate amount of human contact, respect in the community - nothing dramatic, but not rock-bottom in the grand scheme of things. Factories have a reputation for having a more 'adversarial' culture where I live, and outdoors jobs like working for the post involve trogging off in the driving rain occasionally. The negatives in turn: getting up at 4AM - wouldn't the preference for early hours and late hours even out over a whole city's population? I know some people who get up really early by choice, and I personally like it at night. Being responsible for dozens of human lives - that can be worn as a badge of pride. Of course you're right that it might put people off, but you just have to look to airline pilots to see an example of a culture where responsibility is held in high esteem. Do I have a theory of my own? I don't think I can answer it, but I'd guess training and logistics might have something to do with the driver shortage problem. In Czechia, do you have to pay for your own qualification before you get the job? Also, where I am, bus operators will usually only employ people who already live near a depot - that excludes many potential drivers.
- inglor_cz 2y ago
  The contact with passengers is sometimes very unpleasant (basically in every bigger city there is a neighbourhood where drivers don't like to serve, given the risk of being robbed or at least spat and cursed upon)... Consistent getting up at 4 AM would be probably better than the irregular shifts that are the norm. You get up at 4 AM three days in a row, then you only have duties in the afternoon, because someone fell ill etc. Driver shortage problem is pretty much across Europe, with poorer countries and cities being somewhat, but not crushingly worse off. I sort-of doubt that there is some low-hanging fruit waiting to be picked. This is a highly diverse market, with thousands of public and private sphere organizations competing for workforce across the entire EU, and having quite a lot of latitude to provide better conditions. Still, the average age of an extant bus driver is slowly creeping into the late 50s and early 60s. The disinterest of the younger generation in a driving career is palpable.

seabass-labrax 2y ago

I think you make a lot of good points. However, I'm not sure a shortage of bus drivers can be just down to unwillingness. As far as non-office jobs go, I'd imagine it's on the comfortable end: a heated/air-conditioned space, a moderate amount of human contact, respect in the community - nothing dramatic, but not rock-bottom in the grand scheme of things. Factories have a reputation for having a more 'adversarial' culture where I live, and outdoors jobs like working for the post involve trogging off in the driving rain occasionally. The negatives in turn: getting up at 4AM - wouldn't the preference for early hours and late hours even out over a whole city's population? I know some people who get up really early by choice, and I personally like it at night. Being responsible for dozens of human lives - that can be worn as a badge of pride. Of course you're right that it might put people off, but you just have to look to airline pilots to see an example of a culture where responsibility is held in high esteem. Do I have a theory of my own? I don't think I can answer it, but I'd guess training and logistics might have something to do with the driver shortage problem. In Czechia, do you have to pay for your own qualification before you get the job? Also, where I am, bus operators will usually only employ people who already live near a depot - that excludes many potential drivers.

inglor_cz 2y ago
The contact with passengers is sometimes very unpleasant (basically in every bigger city there is a neighbourhood where drivers don't like to serve, given the risk of being robbed or at least spat and cursed upon)... Consistent getting up at 4 AM would be probably better than the irregular shifts that are the norm. You get up at 4 AM three days in a row, then you only have duties in the afternoon, because someone fell ill etc. Driver shortage problem is pretty much across Europe, with poorer countries and cities being somewhat, but not crushingly worse off. I sort-of doubt that there is some low-hanging fruit waiting to be picked. This is a highly diverse market, with thousands of public and private sphere organizations competing for workforce across the entire EU, and having quite a lot of latitude to provide better conditions. Still, the average age of an extant bus driver is slowly creeping into the late 50s and early 60s. The disinterest of the younger generation in a driving career is palpable.