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I cant believe the bus drivers in this town who still wont let people stand in front of the yellow line. Fock! Its minus 30,
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Having driven a bus for a few years before coming on c-train I can tell you that there's a reason for this rule. It is a rule of the City (Calgary Transit) and is enforceable by the City's Transit Bylaw 4M81. Buses have a limit for people. The limit is as many people as can move back from the yellow line. If people are refusing to move back then that bus is considered 'overloaded'. All the driver does is call it in on the radio along with bus #, route, key #, badge # and that info is entered into the computer along with time and location and direction. The scheduling department gets all the info on which buses are overloaded or not. Its up to them to make changes if they want. They also periodically do `count cards` of every route at all times of day. If there is a genuine need for another bus on a specific route they will add it over the course of time.
Once a bus is overloaded it is not required to stop anywhere except where somoene rings a bell and is only to do drop off. It is to put 'out of service' and/or 'next bus please' on the sign and not pick up any additional people. Pickups can resume after enough people have gotten off the bus that it is only a standing load or sometimes the bus is told by radio control to carry on with drop offs until they are empty. In that case they end up starting back in service in another location and usually far away from wherever they go empty.
Bus drivers don't do this because it makes them feel good. They do it for the reason of safety. You have to understand that the bus driver is personally responsible for the safety of whoever is on the bus that he or she is driving. It is the same thing on the c-train. For example if I as a bus driver let you on near the dash way past the yellow line, what will happen when a little car jumps in front of me without signaling or enough distance is that I will have to slam the brakes. Braking distance in a bus (which is 11 or 12 tonnes when empty) is a little different then brakes on a car. Anyone over the yellow line will likely end up through the windshield. The city would probably be sued as would the bus driver. The bus driver is only protecting the public and also covering his own butt legally in any case anything happens.
Most people are reasonable and will move back as much as possible but there's always someone that insists on standing in the doorway, in the steps or right next to the dash. Some bus drivers are weak willed and give in to such individuals. I personally don't believe in compromising on SAFETY. If someone didn't accept the yellow line rule, what I used to do was turn off the bus and walk outside after calling it in on the radio that I need police to remove the individual from the bus. It only happened a few times but in each case the individual recieved a ticket under the rarely enforced Transit Bylaw.