Can buses let you off between stops?

[route101]

In Glasgow there is a Traffic Regulation Order which prohibits setting down and picking up anywhere other than designated stops.

Is that just the City Centre though?

 

[Temple Meads]

Good for you! Interfering with emergency equipment will definitely show 'em. No doubt you'll be back here moaning if you ever find yourself up before the beak for it.

Which won't happen except in fantasy land....

 

[Busaholic]

One thing that's frustrating about London (particularly Oxford St) is that the bus stop layout is very poorly thought through, and this was fine in RM days because people just boarded and alighted anywhere. What is needed to solve this issue is to look again at stop positioning and bus lane design to minimise this situation.

But TfL don't want bus passengers using Oxford Street, so they'll do everything to frustrate and aggravate them, forcing them on to the Elizabeth Line (note to staff - check if this is operating yet.)

 

[AlbertBeale]

But TfL don't want bus passengers using Oxford Street, so they'll do everything to frustrate and aggravate them, forcing them on to the Elizabeth Line (note to staff - check if this is operating yet.)

it's certainly true that the placing of bus stops and the nearness of interchanges in and around Oxford Street has got progressively worse in recent years. And that's besides cutting many of the routes as well. They do seem not to want people to use buses in the centre of London (thereby ignoring the needs of many people). And in any case, even the tube - let alone something with larger trains, longer distances to and from station exits, and longer gaps between stops - isn't an alternative to buses. Buses serve a completely different purpose. No-one is going to use one of the Oxford Street bus routes to get there from, say, Ealing, instead of a train; similarly, neither existing nor planned railways are any good at all to help you carry your shopping up and down and around from place to place in Oxford Street and other central areas, where each journey is a short hop. To do errands around central London without being able to hop on and off buses easily is too slow for many people, and for some people impossible.

 

[AlbertBeale]

Which won't happen except in fantasy land....

I have nothing to hide or apologise for. If a driver wanted to call the police when I use the door button to get off the bus between stops, that's fine by me. I'm perfectly happy to justify my action and I'm certainly not going to stop doing it.

 

[Meerkat]

Tell the driver you are going to puke, bet he lets you off quick then? A once only plan though!

As a reprehensible student the bus driver once kindly stopped outside our house so my housemates didn’t have to semi-carry me so far (I was very errrr.....tired and emotional I think the celebs call it).
Unfortunately I was just sober enough to realise it wasn’t our stop so wouldn’t let go of the bus.....

 

[Bletchleyite]

I have nothing to hide or apologise for. If a driver wanted to call the police when I use the door button to get off the bus between stops, that's fine by me. I'm perfectly happy to justify my action and I'm certainly not going to stop doing it.

Unlike on the railway I don't think you do anything other than breach conditions of carriage by using it on a bus. The bus company could probably ban you from its services (as any commercial company can do to anyone they don't like provided it's not on racist grounds etc) but it is not a Police matter.

 

[Jordan Adam]

Unlike on the railway I don't think you do anything other than breach conditions of carriage by using it on a bus. The bus company could probably ban you from its services (as any commercial company can do to anyone they don't like provided it's not on racist grounds etc) but it is not a Police matter.

I think it's more just selfish and greedy more than anything. Using the emergency buttons so you can get off a bus at a set of lights 30 seconds earlier does nothing but inconvenience everyone else - especially if as soon as you press the buttons the lights go green!

 

[Bletchleyite]

I think it's more just selfish and greedy more than anything. Using the emergency buttons so you can get off a bus at a set of lights 30 seconds earlier does nothing but inconvenience everyone else - especially if as soon as you press the buttons the lights go green!

Yes, I'm not advocating it, but while it could get you prosecuted on the railway it couldn't on a bus. Also, the safety angle is rather different between the two modes of transport - on the railway there is also a very good chance it could get you killed, on a bus rather less so if it's next to the kerb which it will be most of the time.

 

[Jordan Adam]

Yes, I'm not advocating it, but while it could get you prosecuted on the railway it couldn't on a bus. Also, the safety angle is rather different between the two modes of transport - on the railway there is also a very good chance it could get you killed, on a bus rather less so if it's next to the kerb which it will be most of the time.

Indeed, Although it is London, so as long as a bikes front wheel can fit in the gap so can the cyclist!

 

[carlberry]

I have nothing to hide or apologise for. If a driver wanted to call the police when I use the door button to get off the bus between stops, that's fine by me. I'm perfectly happy to justify my action and I'm certainly not going to stop doing it.

I'm sure all the passengers that are slowed down because of having to wait for the doors to close again appreciate that your need was greater than theirs.

 

[scotrail158713]

If there’s a queue waiting for a stop then most drivers in Edinburgh and the Lothians let you off before the stop. The drivers don’t seem to like picking up away from the stop though.

 

[Jordan Adam]

If there’s a queue waiting for a stop then most drivers in Edinburgh and the Lothians let you off before the stop. The drivers don’t seem to like picking up away from the stop though.

That's Lothian company policy, they don't pick up until the bus is within 10CM of the bus shelter.

 

[scotrail158713]

That's Lothian company policy, they don't pick up until the bus is within 10CM of the bus shelter.

I thought it was 1CM

 

[Jordan Adam]

I thought it was 1CM

*1mm... Basically the mirror has to be at the point of hitting the shelter!

 

[AlbertBeale]

I'm sure all the passengers that are slowed down because of having to wait for the doors to close again appreciate that your need was greater than theirs.

I wouldn't do it if it slowed the bus for anyone else, but only where the bus is stationary for a while. I find other passengers are often appreciative, and once i open the door I'm not always the only one to get off...

The real selfishness - or at least short-sightedness - is the decision to close the back platforms and hence increase the time passengers take on their journeys. If bus passengers had their time valued, as (frequently richer) people on trains do, then the calculations would show that the time saved by passengers on open-rear-platform buses in central London more than makes up for the cost of the extra staff member on the bus. But this doesn't happen because the time of people using buses is given no value when deciding these things - hence making it harder to get people out of cars and minicabs and onto buses.

 

[175mph]

Tell the driver you are going to puke, bet he lets you off quick then? A once only plan though!

As a reprehensible student the bus driver once kindly stopped outside our house so my housemates didn’t have to semi-carry me so far (I was very errrr.....tired and emotional I think the celebs call it).
Unfortunately I was just sober enough to realise it wasn’t our stop so wouldn’t let go of the bus.....

That trick worked when I tried it, the real reason was because a connecting bus I needed was behind the bus I was on when we were stuck at the traffic lights and I was very unwilling to wait another ten to fifteen minutes for the next one.

 

[Jordan Adam]

Or perhaps if people weren't inpatient and waited until the bus has stopped in a safe place before alighting. Then what if they brought back open platform buses and a child unexpectedly wandered away from their seat (does happen) and fell out, then what do you do? Additionally what about the draft and discomfort it would create for other passengers, fare dodgers, increased running costs and fares due to the extra conductor? I'm fairly certain those all come before those stuck in a time warp who are impatient!

If money is to be spent on speeding up journey times then by far bus priority and car calming measures are the way forward in the 21st century, not ancient 'unsafe' designs that were ditched 50 years ago.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Of course in a sensible world regarding the connection (assuming it was an infrequent service) the controller would notice this and radio a message to the connecting bus behind and ask it to wait at the next stop.

 

[carlberry]

I wouldn't do it if it slowed the bus for anyone else, but only where the bus is stationary for a while. I find other passengers are often appreciative, and once i open the door I'm not always the only one to get off...

The real selfishness - or at least short-sightedness - is the decision to close the back platforms and hence increase the time passengers take on their journeys. If bus passengers had their time valued, as (frequently richer) people on trains do, then the calculations would show that the time saved by passengers on open-rear-platform buses in central London more than makes up for the cost of the extra staff member on the bus. But this doesn't happen because the time of people using buses is given no value when deciding these things - hence making it harder to get people out of cars and minicabs and onto buses.

The trains that allowed you to save a bit of time by opening the doors when you want have been phased out owing to the number of people who saved all the time they had left whilst using them, I don't see why buses should have a lower safety standard and there's plenty of no-win, no-fee lawyers out there to ensure that they don't.

 

[175mph]

Of course in a sensible world regarding the connection (assuming it was an infrequent service) the controller would notice this and radio a message to the connecting bus behind and ask it to wait at the next stop.

Apparently, Western Greyhound used to have a system like that in place according to a comment in a discussion about the idea of radioing through for connections to other buses: https://www.railforums.co.uk/thread...d-does-this-happen-anywhere-in-the-uk.162652/

 

[Stewpot]

Hi all,

Yesterday I was in Oxford, and caught the Arriva 280 service (Aylesbury - Oxford bus) from Speedwell Street to Oxford Railway station. When the bus got to the end of Park End Street, with the junction of Frideswide Square, it was jammed with traffic (I think because of roadworks on the Botley Road). I asked the driver to let me off as my train was due in a couple of minutes. For those that don't know the area it's only a couple of hundred yards to the railway station from Frideswide Square. The bus driver refused (politely) saying he wasn't allowed to let me off as he wasn't at an official stop, and there was cctv everywhere and he'd get in trouble.

Is this right?

In the back of my mind, when they liberalised the buses back in Mrs T's day, I believed one of the changes was that buses could stop anywhere on route, and not just at recognised stops.

Thanks.

It depends on the driver officially there not allowed too

 

[johnnychips]

In Barcelona the drivers will not let you off before the bus stop even if your bus is literally behind the one standing at it.

 

[ashkeba]

Or perhaps if people weren't inpatient and waited until the bus has stopped in a safe place before alighting. Then what if they brought back open platform buses and a child unexpectedly wandered away from their seat (does happen) and fell out, then what do you do?

Blame their guardian for not keeping proper eyes on them. Children usually bounce. It is surprisingly difficult to kill one!

Is it impatient to want bus travel to be more time-competitive and to want to get rid of recent added disadvantages like this new way of being overcarried in London?

In Barcelona the drivers will not let you off before the bus stop even if your bus is literally behind the one standing at it.

That must be why there is a rather large protest in Barcelona today!

 

[BanburyBlue]

I've been on both Stagecoach and OBC buses in that location and been let off before. Often they'll do it without any prompting.

yes, that's what I was expecting. Especially because of the roadworks causing excessive delays - in normal operation I would have waited.

 

[Eyersey468]

As a driver I've no objection to stopping at places that aren't official stops providing I judge it to be safe.

 

[Jordan Adam]

Is it impatient to want bus travel to be more time-competitive and to want to get rid of recent added disadvantages like this new way of being overcarried in London?

It's impatient because the door controls are not meant to be used by the public unless in an emergency, you potentially will delay the service even more and you'd be able to get off fairly soon anyway. You're saving 2 minutes if that, hardly a huge saving for such a petty and ignorant act. As for being "overcarried" there's no such thing, bus stops are there for a reason.

 

[ashkeba]

It's impatient because the door controls

I asked nothing about door controls.

are not meant to be used by the public unless in an emergency, you potentially will delay the service even more and you'd be able to get off fairly soon anyway. You're saving 2 minutes if that, hardly a huge saving for such a petty and ignorant act.

How long does it really delay a service for the driver to push "close door"? And 2 minutes is a massive saving compared to the few seconds other travellers gain by really dangerous ignorant acts like driving through red lights and many do that all the time so it should be obvious that some people will open bus doors if it saves that much!

As for being "overcarried" there's no such thing, bus stops are there for a reason.

Is the reason to keep the scum passengers slow and not get anywhere faster than the important posh politicians in cars who set the rules?

 

[Busaholic]

Apparently, Western Greyhound used to have a system like that in place according to a comment in a discussion about the idea of radioing through for connections to other buses: https://www.railforums.co.uk/thread...d-does-this-happen-anywhere-in-the-uk.162652/

I think it was me who posted that: the late lamented WG operated an intricate network of routes, many at an hourly frequency, which interconnected in many cases offering realistic journey opportunities which had seldom existed in recent years. The problem was always with road disruption, which has increased markedly in Cornwall in recent years. WG did, though, keep a bus and driver or two on standby near the 'hub' which was situated near their depot. It really was a bus service which had the passenger at heart, and their demise is a sorry, not to say dark, story.

 

[richw]

Tell the driver you are going to puke, bet he lets you off quick then? A once only plan though!

I once had a passenger tell me this, unfortunately unsafe to stop. I got a trip to depot for a interior clean. I was only 3 mins from terminus and 5 mins from depot when I Had this.