We love the concept of hop-on/hop-off buses, and like to buy a day at the beginning of a visit to new cities. It gives us a big picture of many places, and helps us to decide which sights/activities we want to pursue further.
Big Bus did give us the big picture, but the recorded guide was terrible, filled with ridiculously juvenile chatter and very little information. Often the narration was at the exact moment we passed, without enough time to SEE the what was being described.
The guide needs to be a live person!
And as far as tips for the drivers...uh, why? The driver isn't narrating, just driving. Our driver took us under many low hanging branches, one of which managed to smack me on the head as I was looking away.
It was an OK experience, but we have had much better hop-on/hop-off experiences in other cities, and other countries. Kind of embarrassing that this was the first impression of the USA and NYC for foreign visitors!