Synopsis

Terry Flaxton’s documentary examines the challenges of One-Person-Operated (OPO) buses, introduced in the early 1980s, featuring interviews with conductors, bus drivers and the general public.

In the 1960s and 1970s, as bus ridership fell due to the increase in private vehicles, London Transport chose cheaper off-the-peg buses and introduced driver-only operations without conductors. In the interviews with conductors, we see the cost of such cuts – from conductor redundancies leading to the reduction of the predominantly female and non-white conductor workforce while aggravating access issues, as conductors provided a crucial role in helping the elderly and those with disabilities aboard. Drivers speak about both the physical and mental hardships they face: working long hours in solitude while handling all passenger tickets by themselves, sorting change, handling queues and sometimes, facing assault from passengers due to their vulnerable positions as the sole manager of the vehicle. The documentary also questions the butterfly effect on families, as the partners of drivers repeatedly note the increased aggression and agitation their partners show at home due to stresses at work. The drivers themselves comment on the breakdown of interpersonal relationships between crew drivers as they no longer share the camaraderie of working together.