In message , at 00:47:24 on
Wed, 9 Mar 2011, Richard remarked:
London buses have this too - it's now incorporated into the iBus information
display.

People seem to think that it's an invitation to press the button
again...

Us Nottingham folk seem to be able to work out that if the sign is lit
up there's no need to ring again.

When getting on the bus, it's not so clear-cut. A Berlin bus driver
once got quite irate at my wave. Nobody else minds. Perhaps a
theatrical extraction of change or ticket, or lunge towards the bus
stop pole is a compromise. Eye contact with the driver can work as
well, and ensure a suitable position for the front doors, where that's
the done thing.

Again, here in Nottingham what people do is stick out an arm, and the
bus puts on its left indicator - if it hasn't done so already as a
result of dropping someone off.

I wonder whether Roland's experience of Geneva was more about
timetable adherence than any rules about stopping, at least that's
what it seemed like to me when I was in Zurich.

In off-peak periods there are a couple of places that my Nottingham
buses are sometimes clearly waiting for the timetable to catch up, but
the Geneva ones treat each bus stop the way you are supposed to approach
a "Stop" road junction. ie come to a halt for a split second, then
immediately move off (assuming its safe). Avoiding getting ahead of the
timetable can be done by driving slower between stops. The roads there
are clear enough (or there are bus priority measures) so there's little
conflicting traffic to worry about most of the time.
--
Roland Perry