On 2011\03\30 20:31, Paul Corfield wrote:

I still find it very odd that bus stations are seemingly excluded from
the lists and yet if you look at Walthamstow virtually every stop before
/ after the bus station has a sign. Some of those stops are closer to
town centre facilities than the bus station is. It doesn't make much
sense to me given that bus station officials can't / won't say when a
bus is due so they're not an option. If the argument is that everyone
has a smart phone or can text then that's justification for not putting
signs at any stop anywhere! If you look at the design of any new bus
station outside London they nearly all have a master departure board
listing all the buses due from every stand - sometimes in real time but
more often just based on the timetabled time. What makes London so
different other than a denser network and more frequent services? You
could turn that round and say why bother providing real time info
because the likely waiting time for a bus is so much shorter than most
other cities where frequencies are not as generous.

Presumably taxis aren't allowed in the bus station, so passengers there
are a captive market, whereas passengers at nearby stops can choose the
taxis which are returning to the neighbouring rank. Although since I
think nearly all bus journeys are already paid for as part of a season
pass or daily cap, I don't know whether the fear of losing passengers in
this way has any cash value in the equation.