Support NeoGAF

[RangerX]

Sounds cool. I enjoy a friendly chat.

 

[old manatee]

 

[wenis]

everyone's under NDA

You joke but...

 

[Visualante2]

British buses have these. We used to get them pretty much every day on my college commute. We even played card games once. I think it was mostly just a way to get more seats around the wheel arches of double decker buses rather than some social engineering idea.

edit.

 

[Littlefang]

That's nice that they clearly marked the darker blue spots for where to sit and the light blue spots for where to put your bag.

 

[Violet_0]

Sounds cool. I enjoy a friendly chat.

the person sitting next to you unironically wears a MAGA cap and you can now hold eye contact with the guy who mastrubates on a bus and enjoy the full show

 

[Darksol]

Yeah, people take public transportation for the opportunity to bond with strangers.

 

[The Ummah]

Everybody will be staring at their cell phones anyway, nobody talks to each other these days. Hello, it's 2017!

*teleports to France*

 

[Kaiken]

Doesn't work. We have seats on the CTA trains that face each other and everyone avoids making eye contact. It's more awkward than anything. I just sit there with my shades on and jamming to music through my headphones.

 

[yongeandcollege]

I would avoid that seat at all costs. Probably prefer standing actually. My local transit has single seats on their buses and I will always pick those if possible.

 

[gutter_trash]

who ever designed those seats is a complete moron.

There is way less Leg Room for 6 passengers. It's a total mess.

Normally, the corner seat should have enough separator from the perpendicular seat.

Here? 6 passengers lose leg room

 

[Johndoey]

That's why you carry a paper bag to hide you face with.

 

[Boss Doggie]

If anything, bus seats should be facing away from the isle and towards the window. That way I can look out the window and don't have to look at other people in the bus.

I'm actually amazed this isn't a thing yet

 

[Kevyt]

Wow... I guess I shouldn't be surprised by the responses here since many of you are very anti-social and socially awkward (this is neogaf after all) it seems, and I am too, but I think this is a cool idea!

 

[pablito]

People that know each other and take lunches together facing each other will still just look at their phones the whole time.

This is pointless.

 

[JC Lately]

Wow... I guess I shouldn't be surprised by the responses here since many of you are very anti-social and socially awkward (this is neogaf after all) it seems, and I am too, but I think this is a cool idea!

You're one of those people at an airport/on a bus/in a waiting room/in line at the bank/etc who try to strike up a conversation with someone who is clearly reading a book, aren't you?

 

[norm9]

Now you can stare at crazy eyes without turning your head because he's staring right at you, and your crotch, and perhaps your necklace he's gonna snatch.

 

[Captain Smoker]

Well this seat isn't that great for this purpose, but GAF is really awkward with their hate for socializing / interacting with people.

 

[oon]

Given how prevalent harassment is on public transportation in most cities I've been to, this is a god-awful idea.

 

[CheDominik]

Must be a north of the Alps thing. People rather stand in a tram or train to avoid sitting next to another person in Germany as well.

 

[adamsappel]

Looks like a great place for the homeless guy to sleep.

 

[Littlefang]

Well this seat isn't that great for this purpose, but GAF is really awkward with their hate for socializing / interacting with people.

Surprisingly, the social norm is actually not to speak to other people taking public transport.

 

[FairyD]

People are going to lay down and take a nap in the back. Some other asshole is going to put his/her feet on the seats. Another asshole will take up 3 seats to put their backpack and other bags on the seats. Then some fucking parent is going to bring a giant fucking stroller go all the way to the back sit down and take up the whole section by blocking it off with their stroller.

 

[mrklaw]

Somebody needs to recalculate the formula for where to sit on a bus now. It was pretty much figured out before but this changes everything

 

[lazygecko]

One might say their horseshoe theory is bullshit.

 

[Funyarinpa]

I'd actually be happy about something like this but seems like I'd be the vast minority going by the first page, which sort of kills the point. Sigh

 

[Keri]

I use to spend hours on the bus, each day, commuting to college. About 10% of the time someone struck up a conversation with me, it was a nicer older person who was curious what I was studying. The other 90% of the time it was a creepy middle-aged man trying to hit on me or a really aggressive younger guy trying to hit on me.

So glad I have a car now.

 

[gun_haver]

I use to spend hours on the bus, each day, commuting to college. About 10% of the time someone struck up a conversation with me, it was a nicer older person who was curious what I was studying. The other 90% of the time it was a creepy middle-aged man trying to hit on me or a really aggressive younger guy trying to hit on me.

Exactly, nothing good ever comes out of the mouth of strangers try to talk to you on public transport. I'm not a woman so all I get is drunk people, but I've seen the sleaze that goes on, too.

There are exceptions, like you said, with maybe some old people are just a bit dotty/curious and then you've got people with mental conditions who don't have inhibitions and ask you stuff. That's fine but y'know, you can easily tell when that's the case and not the usual kind of crap you get on public transport.

 

[Deepo]

As a Scandinavian, this is my worst nightmare.

 

[Trace]

Ewwwwww, no.

The only people around here that talk on buses are either drunk, have a mental problem, or are talking way too loudly to friends.

The less talking on buses the better.

 

[RionaaM]

Well this seat isn't that great for this purpose, but GAF is really awkward with their hate for socializing / interacting with people.

As opposed to the millions of people who also don't want to socialize in public transport?

 

[adamsappel]

I've never seen anyone put up their legs to stop someone sitting on the seat next to them on public buses. You'd get thrown off the bus if you did, and someone needed to sit there. People do tend to take empty seats by preference but they'll sit next to people once those are occupied.

Metro-North riders fed up with man who sprawls out on train
Woman sits on man's feet after he refuses to move them off subway seat
MTA waging war on "man-spreaders"

And those are just the GAF threads I found searching for the Hipster Leprechaun.

 

[Fisty]

Good way to encourage conversation, as well as tuberculosis

 

[HazySaiyan]

Nah I’m good

 

[Dalek]

I would rather ride on the roof.

 

[Moose Biscuits]

You're seriously all maladjusted.

Good I hope this encourages more people make new friends. I can see it now a thread is made about how a stranger said hello to them and that it made them uncomfortable.

If I have the misfortune to sit in one of these seats and someone opposite me tries to spark up a conversation I will start talking about anime and firearms at them until they move away.

 

[Crayolan]

You will never get me talking to strangers on bus. Stop.

 

[Poodlestrike]

I read this study somebody did of commuters and found that people are actually happier when they've talked to other people on their commutes, which is... not actually surprising, but for some reason everybody assumes they'd be miserable talking to strangers on the bus/train.

 

[HeySeuss]

This is going to sound like an old man yelling at clouds but millennials by and large lack either the desire or the skills to effectively communicate with others outside of social media. They've been raised on smartphones and tablets and internet and it's clearly had an impact on oral communication. Verbal skills are an important factor in many careers and it's definitely something I've noticed as a trainer and supervisor.

Having said that, I don't want to talk to people on a bus either. This is definitely not going to have the desired effect.

 

[Moose Biscuits]

I read this study somebody did of commuters and found that people are actually happier when they've talked to other people on their commutes, which is... not actually surprising, but for some reason everybody assumes they'd be miserable talking to strangers on the bus/train.

There are a bunch of things I'd rather be doing than talking to someone on public transport, even if it's someone I know. Reading something on my phone, listening to a podcast or music, or staring into the middle distance while vigorously trying to think of anything else.

 

[Mammoth Jones]

I don't want to talk to anyone on public transportation. No, I'm not "happier" when someone talks to me on the train. I'm happy when the train arrives and there's no delays and no one fapping on it.

 

[Talka]

There's actually a lot of reliable research that shows spontaneous conversations, even among anxiety-ridden introverts, make people measurably happier.

If I remember it correctly, it's something like 80% of people say they don't want to talk to strangers on public transit and that talking with strangers has historically made them anxious and unhappy... and then, despite that, something like 80% of people actually forced to talk to strangers on public transportation report better moods immediately after the conversation and for several days thereafter.

That said, even knowing the research... yeah I don't want this.

Spoiler

It's been over a year since I read all the research, so I've probably got the details wrong. But the gist was: people tend to not want conversations and then tend to actually enjoy them, to a surprising degree.

 

[GKSilKamina]

Ugh, no. Can't I just ride in peace? Just leave me alone!

 

[jstripes]

It's almost as bad as the seating in Toronto's new streetcars.

You can't imagine the horror when the people of our city saw these.

 

[geomon]

Because staring at strangers on a bus is not weird at all.

 

[NullPointer]

So a crazy sitting anywhere on that makes *all* of those spots unviable.

No thanks.

Seriously, there are way too many fucking crazies on my daily commute. I don't want to relinquish more territory to em.

 

[AlexMeloche]

We've had buses with layout almost like this for forever where I live 10-15 years maybe.

Never saw strangers talk to each other. And this was before the iPhone too.

 

[Occam]

No thank you, that's why I bring my PS Vita and headphones whenever I'm forced to use public transportation.

 

[Weckum]

As a tall person: fuck off.

And those Toronto seats have been in European trains/buses for a long time. People still won't talk. And it's annoying for my knees.

 

[cakely]

Top places I don't want to start up a conversation with strangers:

1. The Bus.