On Mar 20, 11:57*am, Roland Perry wrote:
In message , at 11:25:20 on Fri, 20
Mar 2009, Barry Salter remarked:

There was a proposal floated that ALL bus stops would be treated as a
hybrid of the two types, based on observation of "normal" practice.
Namely:

1) All buses SHOULD stop at a bus stop if it looks like someone wishes
to board.

2) If a passenger wishes to alight, they SHOULD ring the bell.

I agree strongly with #2, but #1 is a bit of a problem if a route has
several buses that someone might be wanting to catch, and there's the
risk of five "wrong" buses being forced to stop needlessly for every
"right" bus.
--
Roland Perry

I think that's why the idea was abandoned; many of the responses to
the consultation must have been similar to what you just said

The trouble is that someone in an ivory tower may assume that, having
not implemented the proposal, we still have a compulsory/request
distinction.

But in practice, for years now, you have to signal or ring at every
stop or the bus is likely not to stop.

The mystery is why the still make stops in two colours.