Strange Bus Journey

[Gloucestrian]

Obligatory this happened to me a couple of years ago. I actually thought about posting it at the time but it is not a particularly strange experience, just common or garden odd. After the discussion about how some strange experiences seem to happen less in recent years, in which I hypothesised that the incidence of the unusual may not have changed but rather the incidence of reports i.e. a reporting bias, I re-evaluated my own tendency to not post some of the very minor but unusual events that happen to me. This is one such example.

In the last few years I have had a job to which I commute using public transport. The office is only about five miles away but there's a rather large hill in the way, so I decided to use public transport. This involves catching two buses, one into the centre of Gloucester and another back out to the business park where my office is located.

In order to get to the office on time I catch a relatively early morning bus and it is imperative that I catch it at the same time each day as I would otherwise miss the second bus. I only have a minute to get from the set down point of the first bus to the pickup point of the second bus. If I miss the connection it would be a 25 minute wait until the next. Apologies for the detail but it is relevant to the story.

Catching the bus at the same time each day, I quickly became used to my fellow passengers. Most were going to work, so they also caught the bus at the same time each day.

One day about 4 months into doing the same commute each day I arrived at my stop (which is the actually the outbound terminus of the line) and the bus arrived a few minutes later, exactly on schedule. No one disembarked, which was a little unusual but not unheard of. However the other people who usually got on at my stop were nowhere to be seen.

At each stop none of the usual passengers got on. After about 5 or so stops I began to wonder if I had inadvertently caught a later or earlier bus but my watch and phone both showed the time I expected it to be. When the bus eventually arrived in Gloucester it was, as usual, only a minute to spare before my next bus was due so I rushed to the stop. This bus arrived as usual with all the usual passengers on it, including one of my colleagues.

Having written it out it doesn't sound like much but it was a bit unsettling. It was as though the cast of my particular story had dramatically changed overnight. Not one of the usual passengers got on my first bus but plenty of people did, around the usual number. If I had caught an earlier bus I should have been 15 minutes too early for my second bus. If I had caught a later bus I should have missed my second bus by 20 minutes or so. Yet I caught the second bus as usual and the "cast" of characters was as it usually was.

 

[catseye]

Did the 'usual characters' all work for the same company? Because it might have been closed that day.

 

[Gloucestrian]

Good thought but no, these people would get on at various stops and disembark at various other stops, not as a group.

For instance, one chap would get on at the same stop as me but would disembark only half way to the city centre. I believe he works at the hospital.

Another bloke "Mr. 1986" (he would always ask for a ticket to his stop by an archaic name that the drivers wouldn't necessarily recognise, more than once he indignantly told the driver "I've been catching this bus since 1986 and I have never had to tell the driver where that is") would get on who got off only 8 stops along. On this occasion no one got on at my stop, someone got on 2 stops down the line and got off at the 8th stop where "Mr. 1986" usually got off.

I did wonder at the time if perhaps there was some sort of event, school or work related, that could have disrupted the lives of the usual passengers but the strange thing was that an equivalent number of passengers did get on the bus they were just completely different people than usual.

 

[Floyd]

Good thought but no, these people would get on at various stops and disembark at various other stops, not as a group.

For instance, one chap would get on at the same stop as me but would disembark only half way to the city centre. I believe he works at the hospital.

Another bloke "Mr. 1986" (he would always ask for a ticket to his stop by an archaic name that the drivers wouldn't necessarily recognise, more than once he indignantly told the driver "I've been catching this bus since 1986 and I have never had to tell the driver where that is") would get on who got off only 8 stops along. On this occasion no one got on at my stop, someone got on 2 stops down the line and got off at the 8th stop where "Mr. 1986" usually got off.

I did wonder at the time if perhaps there was some sort of event, school or work related, that could have disrupted the lives of the usual passengers but the strange thing was that an equivalent number of passengers did get on the bus they were just completely different people than usual.

I suppose the thing to do is next time you're on said bus and the usual gang are there, just mention to one or two of them how it was strange that they were all missing on that day apart from yourself. They may have a reason, (seems doubtful), but if they insist they were indeed on the bus, you know something odd HAS happened. (Or they're all playing a very good prank on you).

 

[Gloucestrian]

I probably should have done that at the time (it was nearly 2 years ago). As to the idea of it having been a prank, that gets a bit Truman show for my liking!

 

[Floyd]

I probably should have done that at the time (it was nearly 2 years ago). As to the idea of it having been a prank, that gets a bit Truman show for my liking!

I've often thought what a mind-blower it would be if you could put someone to sleep for a few days and then transport them to say, Australia to a house that's EXACTLY like their own inside and put them in bed. Imagine when they opened the door or looked out the window.

 

[AnonyJ]

Obligatory this happened to me a couple of years ago. I actually thought about posting it at the time but it is not a particularly strange experience, just common or garden odd. After the discussion about how some strange experiences seem to happen less in recent years, in which I hypothesised that the incidence of the unusual may not have changed but rather the incidence of reports i.e. a reporting bias, I re-evaluated my own tendency to not post some of the very minor but unusual events that happen to me. This is one such example.

In the last few years I have had a job to which I commute using public transport. The office is only about five miles away but there's a rather large hill in the way, so I decided to use public transport. This involves catching two buses, one into the centre of Gloucester and another back out to the business park where my office is located.

In order to get to the office on time I catch a relatively early morning bus and it is imperative that I catch it at the same time each day as I would otherwise miss the second bus. I only have a minute to get from the set down point of the first bus to the pickup point of the second bus. If I miss the connection it would be a 25 minute wait until the next. Apologies for the detail but it is relevant to the story.

Catching the bus at the same time each day, I quickly became used to my fellow passengers. Most were going to work, so they also caught the bus at the same time each day.

One day about 4 months into doing the same commute each day I arrived at my stop (which is the actually the outbound terminus of the line) and the bus arrived a few minutes later, exactly on schedule. No one disembarked, which was a little unusual but not unheard of. However the other people who usually got on at my stop were nowhere to be seen.

At each stop none of the usual passengers got on. After about 5 or so stops I began to wonder if I had inadvertently caught a later or earlier bus but my watch and phone both showed the time I expected it to be. When the bus eventually arrived in Gloucester it was, as usual, only a minute to spare before my next bus was due so I rushed to the stop. This bus arrived as usual with all the usual passengers on it, including one of my colleagues.

Having written it out it doesn't sound like much but it was a bit unsettling. It was as though the cast of my particular story had dramatically changed overnight. Not one of the usual passengers got on my first bus but plenty of people did, around the usual number. If I had caught an earlier bus I should have been 15 minutes too early for my second bus. If I had caught a later bus I should have missed my second bus by 20 minutes or so. Yet I caught the second bus as usual and the "cast" of characters was as it usually was.

Nice one!
What time of year was it?
And did fellow passengers you recognised as regulars normally get on at stops before yours, or after, or both?
Was the first leg of your journey the first bus of the day on that route? (just seen that it wasn't)

Wondering if another bus, maybe a trainee driver or similar, had followed the same route marginally before your scheduled service, or if the earlier bus you mentioned had been delayed by 10 minutes or so, thereby scooping up your regular journey-mates just before you walked to your stop.

Questions, questions

 

[Roland Deschain]

Looks like you didn't get the memo about the axe wielding bus driver who had escaped the secure facility that morning.

 

[tagemoss]

or he'd just got the bus to....





The Twilight Zone.

 

[Frideswide]

Having written it out it doesn't sound like much but it was a bit unsettling.

I'd go for very unsettling...

 

[Mythopoeika]

The Matrix. One of the programmers changed some settings that day, then later realised that a mistake had been made. All of those missing people are Non-Player Characters.

 

[IbisNibs]

Speaking of axe wielding bus drivers, was the bus driver the same or different that day? Or are they always different?
I take a bus at the same time when I go to a particular job, and there's always the same cherubic bus driver in the driver's seat.

 

[PeteS]

The delayed previous bus would seem to be the simplest explanation, but as IbisNibs asks, it would be interesting to recall whether you had the same driver. Bit like a scene from a 60's Avengers plot though! Spooky. I personally don't like it when things aren't as they should be.

 

[Ogdred Weary]

It's certainly interesting, even a relatively small change to usual routines would be mildly unsettling and this was a significant change. How many "regulars" were there, roughly? I imagine their numbers would vary day to day and week to week but for all of them to not be travelling is highly unusual, though by no means impossible. What time of year was it? If it was summer they could all be holiday and in winter they could all have been in ill?

 

[Gloucestrian]

Thank you all for your replies. I wasn't expecting so much interest in such a minor strange experience.

What time of year was it?
And did fellow passengers you recognised as regulars normally get on at stops before yours, or after, or both?

I believe it was August but it could have been up to mid-September. I'd expect some different faces around September, people changing habits due to the kids going back to school or so on but the usual faces were only missing for the one day - I was somewhat relieved the next day to see the usual people.

For the bus on which the usual people were missing on that particular day, my stop is the last stop outbound from the city centre and the first inbound (the bus turns round to go back to Gloucester). As I noted in my original post no-one got off at my stop on this day which is a little strange, the second strange thing was that I was the only person getting on at that stop. There's usually between 4 and 6 people (including myself) that get on at that stop. Two lady passengers who are nurses presumably have shifts that change over the weeks as they sometimes get on and sometimes don't. But there's normally one bloke who gets on at my stop who gets off about halfway along the route, another who travels 8 stops and a kid who travels to a stop near to a local secondary school.

Was the first leg of your journey the first bus of the day on that route? (just seen that it wasn't)

I think there were 5 or 6 buses that were earlier (the timetable has changed since so I can't easily look it up).

Wondering if another bus, maybe a trainee driver or similar, had followed the same route marginally before your scheduled service, or if the earlier bus you mentioned had been delayed by 10 minutes or so, thereby scooping up your regular journey-mates just before you walked to your stop.

This occurred to me also and for a long time I was reasonably happy with this explanation but there were a few things that argue against it.

I didn't say so in my original post, which I should probably have done, but I am usually the first person at my stop, because it is so vital that I don't miss this particular bus (as it throws off my schedule by up to 45 mins or worse due to the missed connection, increased traffic at the later time, etc). For this explanation to work an earlier bus would have had to come only a few minutes late, which is possible or even likely, but also the usual passengers would have had to come their respective stops much earlier. I don't know when the passengers at other stops get to their respective stops but I get to mine about 10 minutes early. They would have had to get there very early for the bus they usually catch - more than 10 minutes early.

I noticed that my usual co-passengers weren't at the stop after a few minutes which caused me to check my watch before the bus came, so I know the time was what I expected it to be, so I am pretty certain that I didn't catch a later bus that came early or anything like that.

I'd go for very unsettling...

I am glad it wasn't too boring! I did think about posting about this experience at the time but it seemed so minor, so inconsequential that although I started writing a post out I didn't post it.

The Matrix. One of the programmers changed some settings that day, then later realised that a mistake had been made. All of those missing people are Non-Player Characters.

That would explain a lot.
Some of them are a bit odd, though I'm one to talk.

Speaking of axe wielding bus drivers, was the bus driver the same or different that day? Or are they always different?

Nearly always different. Occasionally it'll be the same driver two days in a row but not more than that. I believe it was a different driver to the one the day before but as that was unremarkable I can't say for sure. I'm also reasonably sure he wasn't wielding an axe.

I take a bus at the same time when I go to a particular job, and there's always the same cherubic bus driver in the driver's seat.

Cherubic? Wow, lucky. Ours are mainly surly, sometimes we have a friendly one for a change (which is almost disturbing in itself, after weeks of curt or laconic drivers).

 

[escargot]

@

Bit like a scene from a 60's Avengers plot though! Spooky.

There are also ULs about bus drivers dropping off passengers at mental health institutions instead of their destinations and having them admitted , and of fake bus drivers stealing buses for a laugh.

Be on your guard!

 

[AnonyJ]

...Thank you all for your replies. I wasn't expecting so much interest in such a minor strange experience.
I think there were 5 or 6 buses that were earlier (the timetable has changed since so I can't easily look it up).

This occurred to me also and for a long time I was reasonably happy with this explanation but there were a few things that argue against it.

I didn't say so in my original post, which I should probably have done, but I am usually the first person at my stop, because it is so vital that I don't miss this particular bus (as it throws off my schedule by up to 45 mins or worse due to the missed connection, increased traffic at the later time, etc). For this explanation to work an earlier bus would have had to come only a few minutes late, which is possible or even likely, but also the usual passengers would have had to come their respective stops much earlier. I don't know when the passengers at other stops get to their respective stops but I get to mine about 10 minutes early. They would have had to get there very early for the bus they usually catch - more than 10 minutes early.

I noticed that my usual co-passengers weren't at the stop after a few minutes which caused me to check my watch before the bus came, so I know the time was what I expected it to be, so I am pretty certain that I didn't catch a later bus that came early or anything like that.
...

Ooooh, then now I'm out of explanations - it was definitely an odd occurrence!

If you're ever stranded on a dark desert highway (with or without the cool wind in your hair) don't, whatever you do, get on the bus:


Lone Star Bus
OpalDivine [CC0], via Wikimedia Commons

 

[WanderingFox]

Intriguing little tale, and no mistake. I suppose the odds are that at some point all of the regulars' days off, shall we say, would align, but it would be such a rare, even unique moment it'd certainly stick in the mind. It'd also set an imaginative and/or enquiring brain to wandering and wondering. Speaking of...

If you're ever stranded on a dark desert highway (with or without the cool wind in your hair) don't, whatever you do, get on the bus:

If this isn't already the basis for a lo-fi, low-budget indie horror flick it really needs to be. Makes the darker creative synapses spark. Just imagine being stranded on a deserted, eerie road in the middle of nowhere USA as dusk is falling, and this came into view. Would you flag it down?

 

[Krepostnoi]

Just imagine being stranded on a deserted, eerie road in the middle of nowhere USA as dusk is falling, and this came into view. Would you flag it down?

I reckon that's the wrong way round to look at it - what you need to be doing is driving the bus. Just think of the road trip that would be. If nothing else, you wouldn't be troubled by tail-gaters... Now then, anyone need a lift to uncon?

 

[Naughty_Felid]

Obligatory this happened to me a couple of years ago. I actually thought about posting it at the time but it is not a particularly strange experience, just common or garden odd. After the discussion about how some strange experiences seem to happen less in recent years, in which I hypothesised that the incidence of the unusual may not have changed but rather the incidence of reports i.e. a reporting bias, I re-evaluated my own tendency to not post some of the very minor but unusual events that happen to me. This is one such example.

In the last few years I have had a job to which I commute using public transport. The office is only about five miles away but there's a rather large hill in the way, so I decided to use public transport. This involves catching two buses, one into the centre of Gloucester and another back out to the business park where my office is located.

In order to get to the office on time I catch a relatively early morning bus and it is imperative that I catch it at the same time each day as I would otherwise miss the second bus. I only have a minute to get from the set down point of the first bus to the pickup point of the second bus. If I miss the connection it would be a 25 minute wait until the next. Apologies for the detail but it is relevant to the story.

Catching the bus at the same time each day, I quickly became used to my fellow passengers. Most were going to work, so they also caught the bus at the same time each day.

One day about 4 months into doing the same commute each day I arrived at my stop (which is the actually the outbound terminus of the line) and the bus arrived a few minutes later, exactly on schedule. No one disembarked, which was a little unusual but not unheard of. However the other people who usually got on at my stop were nowhere to be seen.

At each stop none of the usual passengers got on. After about 5 or so stops I began to wonder if I had inadvertently caught a later or earlier bus but my watch and phone both showed the time I expected it to be. When the bus eventually arrived in Gloucester it was, as usual, only a minute to spare before my next bus was due so I rushed to the stop. This bus arrived as usual with all the usual passengers on it, including one of my colleagues.

Having written it out it doesn't sound like much but it was a bit unsettling. It was as though the cast of my particular story had dramatically changed overnight. Not one of the usual passengers got on my first bus but plenty of people did, around the usual number. If I had caught an earlier bus I should have been 15 minutes too early for my second bus. If I had caught a later bus I should have missed my second bus by 20 minutes or so. Yet I caught the second bus as usual and the "cast" of characters was as it usually was.

I think the bus company messed up and sent two buses close to each other. This often happens on my now old route, (I got a folding bike instead of getting the sodding bus).

The fIrst bus picked up your normal lot but you missed it by a whisker. Or equally, you were early and got picked up and missed your regular crew.

Buses turning up and or not turning up was one of the reasons I got the folding bike so I could get a train and also cycle around the city when I had meetings.

Did you talk to them afterwards to see if they were replacements? (People not buses).

Nice account.

 

[Gloucestrian]

The double bus theory occurred to me and was my accepted explanation for a while. See my reply to AnonyJoolz as to why I am not satisfied with that explanation, though it is still the likeliest explanation.

Thanks for reading!

Did you talk to them afterwards to see if they were replacements? (People not buses)

No, they probably think I am weird enough as it is! The usual city public transport rules apply - very few people talk to anyone other than their friends on the local buses. Additionally very few take it from terminus to terminus like I do.

I have occasionally made attempts to talk to some of the regular passengers but one chap gave me such a look of surprise even when I simply ventured to say "good morning" that I didn't bother trying to talk with him again. The fact I try to talk to some people already marked me as "odd", if I mentioned the day none of them were on the bus I think I'd end up in the asylum.

 

[Mythopoeika]

I have occasionally made attempts to talk to some of the regular passengers but one chap gave me such a look of surprise even when I simply ventured to say "good morning" that I didn't bother trying to talk with him again. The fact I try to talk to some people already marked me as "odd", if I mentioned the day none of them were on the bus I think I'd end up in the asylum.

That is evidence! It proves that person is a non-player character.
The programmers didn't give him any lines or program him to deal with the situation.

 

[Gloucestrian]

TIL I am living in my own personal video game. Being of hackerish disposition I will have to attempt to discern the cheat codes!

 

[Ghost In The Machine]

TIL I am living in my own personal video game. Being of hackerish disposition I will have to attempt to discern the cheat codes!

Maybe the Usual Suspects are sentient AIs and they've started communicating with eachother and trying to change the game...

Great post, btw. Something really intriguing about the whole thing.

 

[Schrodinger's Zebra]

Obligatory this happened to me a couple of years ago. I actually thought about posting it at the time but it is not a particularly strange experience, just common or garden odd. After the discussion about how some strange experiences seem to happen less in recent years, in which I hypothesised that the incidence of the unusual may not have changed but rather the incidence of reports i.e. a reporting bias, I re-evaluated my own tendency to not post some of the very minor but unusual events that happen to me. This is one such example.

In the last few years I have had a job to which I commute using public transport. The office is only about five miles away but there's a rather large hill in the way, so I decided to use public transport. This involves catching two buses, one into the centre of Gloucester and another back out to the business park where my office is located.

In order to get to the office on time I catch a relatively early morning bus and it is imperative that I catch it at the same time each day as I would otherwise miss the second bus. I only have a minute to get from the set down point of the first bus to the pickup point of the second bus. If I miss the connection it would be a 25 minute wait until the next. Apologies for the detail but it is relevant to the story.

Catching the bus at the same time each day, I quickly became used to my fellow passengers. Most were going to work, so they also caught the bus at the same time each day.

One day about 4 months into doing the same commute each day I arrived at my stop (which is the actually the outbound terminus of the line) and the bus arrived a few minutes later, exactly on schedule. No one disembarked, which was a little unusual but not unheard of. However the other people who usually got on at my stop were nowhere to be seen.

At each stop none of the usual passengers got on. After about 5 or so stops I began to wonder if I had inadvertently caught a later or earlier bus but my watch and phone both showed the time I expected it to be. When the bus eventually arrived in Gloucester it was, as usual, only a minute to spare before my next bus was due so I rushed to the stop. This bus arrived as usual with all the usual passengers on it, including one of my colleagues.

Having written it out it doesn't sound like much but it was a bit unsettling. It was as though the cast of my particular story had dramatically changed overnight. Not one of the usual passengers got on my first bus but plenty of people did, around the usual number. If I had caught an earlier bus I should have been 15 minutes too early for my second bus. If I had caught a later bus I should have missed my second bus by 20 minutes or so. Yet I caught the second bus as usual and the "cast" of characters was as it usually was.

Great post, I love it.

My theory: time/ dimensional slip. Cos everyone here knows, that's my go-to. I firmly believe in that stuff.
Mundane theory: bank holiday?

I've often thought what a mind-blower it would be if you could put someone to sleep for a few days and then transport them to say, Australia to a house that's EXACTLY like their own inside and put them in bed. Imagine when they opened the door or looked out the window.

I'd be overjoyed.

(Caveat: as long as Mr Zebra was with me, that is).

 

[Carl Grove]

It does have that rather disturbing glitchy quality, this story -- there are quite a few similar, and even more bizarre, accounts on the current Reddit thread, Glitch in the Matrix. There was a similar one recently where, if I recall correctly, someone walked around his familiar neighbourhood and found a completely different set of people in their gardens and on the street. The dimensional theory is one possibility, but I am increasingly looking at things from a simulation viewpoint. Maybe some of these types of event are the equivalent of a Windows 10 update, which on some computers (my wife's, for example) screw everything up for a while.

 

[AnonyJ]

..... I don't know when the passengers at other stops get to their respective stops but I get to mine about 10 minutes early. They would have had to get there very early for the bus they usually catch - more than 10 minutes early.

I noticed that my usual co-passengers weren't at the stop after a few minutes which caused me to check my watch before the bus came, so I know the time was what I expected it to be, so I am pretty certain that I didn't catch a later bus that came early or anything like that.

.....

I may have a solution - if your habit is to get to the stop very early then an earlier bus, running late, may have picked you up just around your regular time? ie., scooping you up before your regular bus-mates.

 

[escargot]

I may have a solution - if your habit is to get to the stop very early then an earlier bus, running late, may have picked you up just around your regular time? ie., scooping you up before your regular bus-mates.

Yup, this happens with public transport. Causes no end of trouble on trains with passengers holding the wrong ticket.

 

[WanderingFox]

I've often thought what a mind-blower it would be if you could put someone to sleep for a few days and then transport them to say, Australia to a house that's EXACTLY like their own inside and put them in bed. Imagine when they opened the door or looked out the window.

I vaguely recall an Avengers episode on this theme. Saying that, the OP's tale would make a half-decent basis for one. Really need to watch that show again.

 

[Gloucestrian]

It's certainly interesting, even a relatively small change to usual routines would be mildly unsettling and this was a significant change. How many "regulars" were there, roughly? I imagine their numbers would vary day to day and week to week but for all of them to not be travelling is highly unusual, though by no means impossible. What time of year was it? If it was summer they could all be holiday and in winter they could all have been in ill?

I seem to have forgotten to reply to your questions - sorry!

Number of regulars: 13-17. It has been a couple of years but I've just written out a text file with my personal mental-nicknames for them to check the numbers. As you rightly suspected, the numbers vary a little day to day. I've replied to the time of year question elsewhere in this thread.

Great post, I love it

My theory: time/ dimensional slip. Cos everyone here knows, that's my go-to. I firmly believe in that stuff.
Mundane theory: bank holiday?

Glad you enjoyed reading it. No, it wasn't a bank holiday - I have all of those off work so I wouldn't have been travelling that day.

I may have a solution - if your habit is to get to the stop very early then an earlier bus, running late, may have picked you up just around your regular time? ie., scooping you up before your regular bus-mates.

This is more or less the same as the later bus, I think? This is definitely a possibility, just like the later bus idea. But similar problems apply - I would have been too early in town and would have had to wait for my second bus but it was about 1 minute as usual. If it had been an earlier bus but had caught up with the later bus in schedule then I should have seen some of the usual people get on at other stops, I would have thought.

I vaguely recall an Avengers episode on this theme. Saying that, the OP's tale would make a half-decent basis for one. Really need to watch that show again.

Half-decent? I shall take that as a compliment, thought I might not had this been an exercise in creative writing!
Unfortunately my life is too boring to make a decent story.