Transporting Passengers Safely
What this domain tests
This domain covers the commercial side of carrying people: stopping safely at bus stops, deciding when standees are allowed, and keeping baggage and hazardous materials from creating a fire, trip, or evacuation hazard. Questions often turn on a single prohibited item or a blocked exit.
Core rules
- Approach a stop with the right turn signal on, slow early, and stop close to the curb so passengers do not step into traffic. Set the parking brake before opening the door. Check mirrors before pulling away.
- Standing passengers are allowed only if the bus is designed for standees and handholds are available. No one may stand forward of the white line, on the stairs, or in a blocked aisle. Keep the aisle and exit paths clear at all times.
- Baggage must be secured in racks or compartments. It cannot block the aisle, emergency exits, or the driver's view, and it cannot be loose enough to slide in a stop.
- Hazardous materials are prohibited: gasoline, propane, acids, poisons, explosives, and other regulated hazmat. Do not accept a passenger's container just because it is small; a gasoline can is still a fire hazard. If a suspicious package is brought aboard, refuse it and report it.
- Do not let passengers cross in front of the bus where they can disappear from your mirror; wait until they are clear.
Worked example
A passenger boards with a one-gallon gasoline can and says it is empty. The driver refuses it. Reasoning: the prohibition is on hazardous materials, and an empty can retains flammable vapor. Accepting it would create a fire hazard and would violate the baggage rule. The passenger is told to leave the can outside; if the passenger refuses, the driver does not move.
Traps
- Opening the door before the bus is fully stopped.
- Allowing standees ahead of the white line because the aisle is 'mostly' clear.
- Stacking bags in front of an emergency exit.
- Treating a small gasoline container as harmless.
- Pulling away from a stop without checking both mirrors.