This keeps happening to Simon Tshulak who says ‘it’s like Groundhog Day’
The Airport worker has been left feeling 'bullied' after his valid disabled bus was refused on a London bus.
Transport for London has said it is "very sorry" about the incident and that "it should not have happened".
Simon Tshulak, 30, from Potters Bar in Hertfordshire, told MyLondon the incident made him feel like he's "worthless".
On Wednesday January 27 at around 1pm, he was on his way back from a Kosher supermarket in Mill Hill, North London, where he was buying food for his mum who is shielding at home.
He is looking after his mum while his dad is in hospital with Covid.
The 30-year-old, who usually works at Stansted Ariport but is currently on furlough, tried to catch the 186 bus but the driver wouldn't accept his disabled pass.
'It’s like Groundhog Day. It shouldn’t be happening again.'
The pass is valid and has a clear red rose symbol on the front, which according to TfL’s website, “means you can travel free on local buses all over England".
Simon's pass with the red rose symbol and the April 2022 expiry date clearly visible
Simon said: "He turned the engine off.
"Said he wouldn’t go anywhere until I got off the bus. Saying my pass wasn’t valid."
Simon decided to stand his ground, fed up as this wasn't the first time his card had been refused.
According to Simon, TfL card readers consistently won’t recognise the Hertfordshire issued passes and instead they must be shown to the driver.
This is a problem recognised by TfL who advise passengers just to show them to the driver.
He continued: "I told the driver I appreciate him doing his job but the card doesn’t read on the reader. I explained it to him but he wasn’t listening.
'It’s like Groundhog Day. It shouldn’t be happening again.'
"He said: ‘What do you want me to do about it?’"
Eventually, after a ten minute stand off, the driver turned on the engine and just carried on.
But Simon felt he had been humiliated: "He made me feel angry and upset. I’m not going out for the sake of it. It's really frustrating to make me feel like I'm worthless.
"They’re mostly doing a good job but its so frustrating.
"I don’t want to have to go through this. I explained that I’ve already had to go through this once with TfL.
"It’s frustrating that it has to keep happening."
Tom Cunnington, TfL’s Head of Bus Business Development, said: “We are very sorry that Mr Tshulak had a bad experience on our network. This should not have happened.
"Metroline, the operator of the route, has spoken to the driver and we will ensure all operators remind drivers of the need to accept these passes.”
This isn't the first time it's happened to Simon Tshulak who spoke to MyLondon about a similar incident last year.
He believes it's got worst since TfL started franchising the bus routes.
Simon said: "It’s like Groundhog Day. It shouldn’t be happening again.
"I’ve never had this problem before and then suddenly twice in a year."
He also had advice for other people in a similar position: "I think people need to stand their ground. If I got off that bus I would feel worthless.
"I told him, I’m not going to be bullied by you."
TAXI LEAKS EXTRA BIT:
TfL has admitted that they knew there is a problem with there card readers.....so why haven’t the managers at ever bus garage spoken to all drivers, informing them that as the reader is not recognising the disabled card, once the card is shown to the driver, he should then let the card holder board the bus ?
It’s not nuclear science, it’s just common sense but then TfL don’t normally do common sense, especially when it comes to disabled people trying to get around London.
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