MIG wrote:

Neil Williams wrote:
MIG wrote:

Now that drivers have been instructed to treat all stops as request
stops, why doesn't TfL make them all red to save confusion?

Maybe they will. It'd take a long time to replace them all...

Back to the other point about multiple routes, surely it's on a
multiple-routes stop that it's most important that buses stop anyway,
as it otherwise leads to the British stupidity where buses drive
directly behind other buses approaching busy stops so you have to be
very quick to signal the right one. For that reason I'd support making
all such bus stops compulsory stops - that, or split them out.


It would allow people to change bus as well: you can't signal the
following bus from inside the previous one.

The trouble is that the only "performance indicator" for London's buses
at the moment is whether the bus arrives at the end of its route on
time, empty or not. This may happen to hugely increase individuals'
journey times and make buses less attractive, but it doesn't seem to
matter to TfL.

As a counter-point to that it means that those on the bus are not left
dawdling around. It's purely subjective but my memory of bus journeys
of old was that they weren't as snappy as nowadays. Yes, this has a
number of downsides, but I quite like the sense of urgency that now
seems to pervade bus operations in London, because ultimately I want to
get from A to B.

If changes of bus are involved then it may well be that there are
several routes serving a particular corridor that a passenger could
use. Also, of course, there are often more buses on each route
nowadays, and I think a frequent service on bus routes where big gaps
between buses are avoided as much as possible really does inspire
confidence in the bus network. There's nothing worse than waiting at a
stop for ages. I'd suggest factoring in these considerations when
weighing up such matters.