Commuter Policies

National Coach Works, Inc. of Virginia Commuter Policy Update 5/3/2011

The following update is provided by National Coach Works, Inc. of Virginia to all of our commuter customers in an effort to ensure that passengers not only have a clear understanding of our existing commuter policies but are also made aware of some new policies that we are implementing for our commuter service. These policies and procedures are outlined below:

Seating

All NCW commuter buses are open seating, except for the first row on the door side of the bus, reserved for the Conductor and one Assistant Conductor.
Seating is only guaranteed if you are actually serving as the Conductor or Assistant Conductor on that particular commuter run. There are no other seating guarantees.
All persons entering the bus must give the driver a ticket except the Conductor with an ID badge from NCW (Martz). Assistant Conductors must produce and submit a ticket.
No customer is to occupy more than one seat. If this occurs, the customer must pay full fare for each seat used. National Coach Works will fully enforce this policy; as our ridership continues to grow, we will not allow passengers to use spare seats for storage of personal items that inconveniences other passengers and/or denies another passenger a seat.
If a Conductor and/or Assistant Conductor is riding an NCW commuter bus but not actually serving as a Conductor and/or Assistant Conductor on that particular commuter run, there are no special privileges issued. In other words, there is no "guaranteed" seating, i.e., regularly paying commuter customers cannot be "bumped" off of a full bus and no "jumping to the front" of the commuter line is authorized.
Children accompanied by a guardian requiring a seat must produce and submit a ticket.
Children small enough to sit in the guardian's lap are not required to produce and submit a ticket.

Overfull Buses

If an NCW commuter bus overfills and in turn leaves customers at a stop the customer may do one of two things:

Wait for the next NCW commuter bus going to the same lot and ride that run.
Ride the next NCW commuter bus (not to interfere with customers on that run); if the run does not go to that passenger's destination lot the driver will finish the scheduled run then go back to the customer's destination lot.

NCW commuter drivers will coordinate with their driver supervisor as well as each other to ensure that if a bus overfills at any time action is taken to ensure that stranded passengers are picked up and properly transported to their destinations. Management will pro-actively work to assist drivers in rerouting coaches to locations to pick up stranded commuter customers.

Cell Phone Policy

In consideration of your fellow passengers and in an effort to exercise basic common courtesy, cell phone usage while on a Martz commuter bus is to be kept to a minimum. It is recommended that you set your cell phone to "vibrate" while riding the commuter bus. We understand that emergencies do arise and understand that customers will take those emergency cell phone calls; however, it is not acceptable for a commuter riding a Martz bus to conduct extended cell phone calls of a "non-emergency" nature. Those individuals who consistently violate our cell phone policy will be asked, politely, to discontinue this type of conduct. Repeated violations will result in those individuals being prohibited from riding Martz commuter busses. This policy is non-negotiable. Commuter customers are also prohibited from initiating or accepting cell phone calls in the first three rows of a Martz commuter bus for safety reasons.

The following suggestion is provided to Conductors/Assistant Conductors to help relay the Martz cell phone policy without unnecessarily upsetting customers. Most individuals know the policy but if a Conductor/Assistant Conductor feels the need to make an announcement the following message should be delivered:

"Martz has a cell phone policy; please turn your cell phone to vibrate while on the bus. If it is necessary to initiate or accept a call be considerate of your fellow riders and talk at low volume and keep the call as short as possible. Thank you for your understanding and cooperation."

Also, personal conversations between commuter passengers while on a commuter bus should be kept to a minimum; conversations that do occur should be kept low in tone so as not to disturb other commuter passengers.

Common Courtesy

The Martz Group will continue to strive to provide safe, reliable, and courteous service. As part of this effort, we will take whatever actions we deem necessary to ensure that passengers feel safe while enroute to/from their destinations. Passengers who become unruly, either verbally or physically, will be removed from Martz busses, with police assistance if necessary. Misconduct such as physical threats, use of profanity, shouting, etc. are a few examples of misconduct that will result in removal of a passenger from a Martz commuter bus. Martz management reserves the right to prohibit a customer from future rides on Martz commuter busses if the safety of other passengers is deemed to be in jeopardy. We are hopeful that all customers will treat each other with respect, thus negating the need for management to resort to the measures outlined above. Martz Conductors/Assistant Conductors and Martz drivers have been advised to take immediate action should some form of misconduct outlined above occur, to include moving the bus to a safe location, stopping the vehicle, and contacting the police, if necessary, to resolve the problem.

Passenger Safety

Passengers are reminded to remain seated while motor-coaches are in motion. Customers with concerns should direct those issues to a Conductor/Assistant Conductor at the end of the trip and should not distract the driver while he/she is operating the motor-coach.

Appropriate Use of WiFi/Laptops/Smart Phones

In today's technological age, individuals have access to many forms of media via mobile devices such as laptop computers, iPads, Smart phones, etc. Since Martz commuter customers travel/ride in close proximity to other passengers, we encourage passengers to exercise a high level of decorum and sound judgment when using the devices noted above. Examples of inappropriate uses of laptops, Smart Phones, etc. include the viewing of pornography, listening to offensive/profane language, viewing movies/videos that contain profanity or offensive language, and other types of media that other customers may not wish to be subjected to while traveling to/from their destinations. Individuals who violate this policy should be reported to Conductors/Assistant Conductors or Martz drivers so that appropriate action may be taken.

The Martz team values the patronage of its commuter customers; the policies and procedures outlined above are not meant to be punitive in nature but are simply designed to ensure that ALL customers may experience a safe, reliable, and courteous commuter transportation offering.