Here in the UK, it is common to use public transport. I experienced riding the bus and the train quite frequently. With these experiences, it took many times until I fully understood the etiquette of getting on and off. More specifically, I was not used to the kinds of timelines others were on or even accustomed to the area all that well so it took time.
From my observations, it seems it is most common to be up, ready and walking towards the exit when you know your stop is coming up. With this, it is also important to make sure if you have any luggage or bags, you grab them and get situated to leave. The preparation to leave helps with the flow of traffic getting on and off the bus so things can happen quickly and in most cases the bus/train is not stopped for long periods of time so you must move quickly. To top it off, the buses are double deckers so this included going downstairs sometimes. However, I was not entirely used to this concept and had a couple times where I held other people up or missed my stop completely and had to get off on the next one. It was uncomfortable when I felt so lost and wanted time to just think but overtime I got much better at it and became a local. I also tried to help anyone who needed assistance in the future. I don’t know if I would ever get used to the wobbly walk and shaky feeling as the bus moved while I walked down the stairs to the door but I will never forget it either.
I believe for the locals it can be quite convenient to use public transport as there are more people who use the bus/train than a car. So in this case, I can see how the quickness and timeliness of the transport is super important. If I am solely relying on the bus or train to get me to work and it is even 5 minutes off what it usually is this can be quite frustrating and cause anxiety. To me, I felt rushed but for them, they live their lives faster. They don’t see it as rushing at all but instead maintaining a sense of punctuality. Most locals knew if the bus said it was coming at a specific time it was almost always arriving right around that time. In turn, this also meant that the bus/train system is reliable for them and something that they can count on.
Having these kinds of experiences from beginning to end really helps me to reflect. From when I was super oblivious, to becoming a local myself. I may have felt it was rude and rushed and uncomfortable and may have passed judgment based on that. However, getting to experience it more and learn the people who are using it I looked back and realized you can never really know until you experience something.