When standing, do you generally hold onto the bars or the loop handles attached to the bars? What did you do this morning if you were on one?
I left Toronto some months ago, maybe I have rose-tinted glasses but I find the TTC and other buses there were way smoother of a ride than in Vancouver. I’m seeing if it has any influence on the amount of people using bars/loops via informal poll. Let me know your thoughts.
E: Sounds like bars are the popular option here too, for many reasons. Hygiene was a big one I hadn’t initially considered. Thanks for answering everyone!
If your hypothesis is that smoother rides - based on street/vehicle/driver factors - are associated with reduced passenger use of handles or bars to stabilize themselves while standing, I’d say that makes sense. I’m less sure about the between city comparison. I prefer not to touch common surfaces for hygienic reasons, which is pretty influential for me. There are three circumstances in which I’d hold a bar/handle to stabilize myself: 1) It’s so crowded that I can’t spread my feet far enough apart to stabilize me so I make prolonged use of a bar/handle, 2) I’m exhausted and use the bar/handle for a prolonged period to rest some stabilizer muscles, 3) There’s a sharp turn or stop and I proactively or reactively use a bar/handle temporarily for stability until the acceleration’s back to normal. Hope that helps :)
Thanks for the detailed response! Yeah, it’s mainly about whether in bus rides in Ontario which I found were less jolty, more people would want to use the handles.
I’ve received a number of other reasons for preference, which I find quite neat.