Buses stop both side of street stop

johntea · 12 Jan 2019

I don’t use buses too often these days but due to the Northern strike I didn’t have much of a choice today!

Anyway I was at my friends house and looked up the last bus on Google Maps, which reported one at 22:54 from a nearby street

When we got to the street and found the stop it was on the right with ‘buses stop at both sides of the road’ on the sign

Looked at the timetable on the stop which reckoned the last service was at 21:xx, so loaded up the live departure information for the stop number which also reported nothing was due until Sunday

Whatever, booked a taxi only for the correct bus service to appear coming down the left! Stuck my hand out and it pulled over so I saved myself a few quid!

Just utterly confused, did it just pull up for me out of pity or did they run out of bus stop signs to put on the other side of the road?!

For anyone interested the stop was Favell Avenue - Neville Street in Normanton (near the Freeston high school) and the service was the 188

Not sure where Google pulls the bus information from but it saved the day in the end! (Although I think I have had it lie in the past!)

RailUK Forums

Bletchleyite · 13 Jan 2019

There aren't many such stops left, but it was indeed to save money on routes where almost nobody boarded in the outbound direction or in very rural areas.

RT4038 · 13 Jan 2019

Bletchleyite said:
There aren't many such stops left, but it was indeed to save money on routes where almost nobody boarded in the outbound direction or in very rural areas.

Whilst they are comparatively rare, there are plenty around, and new ones instituted.

I would suggest that the usual reasons for them are:
(a) no existing pole or lamp standard to affix a plate to, and the sheer hassle to have one erected in many local authority areas; and/or
(b) residents objection to having a bus stop plate outside their house, mainly for fear of devaluing their property

Typhoon · 13 Jan 2019

The nearest stop to me is like that. Apparently there was a stop on the other side of the road which was knocked down many, many years ago and never replaced. To be honest there is no real room for one, there is only a narrow grass verge with scrubby trees and bushes. The stop on the near side gives the codes for both sides - I have never checked them though. Other situations where I have seen them is in villages where there is only a pavement on one side of the road.

I have seen at least one similar stop where the only 'timetable' was for the (non-existent) stop opposite but not so labelled. This is the danger of only giving the times of buses with only vague or no destinations.

PeterC · 13 Jan 2019

I haven't noticed "buses stop on both sides" written on a stop for a long time. I can think of a couple of locations where there are stops only on one side of the road but as the stops in question have no service at all the issue doesn't arise.

Harpers Tate · 13 Jan 2019

Several near me like this, too - actual stop sign/post on one side only, but clearly marked as "Both Directions" (or somesuch).

Bletchleyite · 13 Jan 2019

Typhoon said:
I have seen at least one similar stop where the only 'timetable' was for the (non-existent) stop opposite but not so labelled. This is the danger of only giving the times of buses with only vague or no destinations.

I've never quite been sure why providing correct information is so difficult for UK bus operators and Councils, to be honest, but this is a very good example of how we get it very wrong.

Bletchleyite · 13 Jan 2019

Harpers Tate said:
Several near me like this, too - actual stop sign/post on one side only, but clearly marked as "Both Directions" (or somesuch).

I've seen "both sides of road" and "both directions" - must admit I think the former is better because the latter implies that the bus would turn round somewhere (e.g. by running a one way loop round that location) and serve the same actual stop for both, that's what I thought happened as a kid.

Typhoon · 13 Jan 2019

Bletchleyite said:
I've seen "both sides of road" and "both directions" - must admit I think the former is better because the latter implies that the bus would turn round somewhere (e.g. by running a one way loop round that location) and serve the same actual stop for both, that's what I thought happened as a kid.

I can think of a stop where it means just that. Depending on the weather (and whether you fancy going down and up a steep dip) you get on before the turn or after.

dgl · 13 Jan 2019

There is a similar stop in Misterton, South Somerset. There is no room for a stop/sign on one side.

Deerfold · 13 Jan 2019

There's some on the road between Ripponden and Soyland on the 561/562. One one side of the road there's a wide pavement and lampposts. On the other there's a wall which leans at the top towards the road with the single lane road going right up to the wall. Fun waiting for a bus there.

The stops are all in very silly places, away from houses. The road used to be hail and ride which worked much better (I used to get off at the top of a lane which is now several hundred yards from a bus stop).

Busaholic · 13 Jan 2019

WM Bus said:
In Cornwall, when I was there, there was one stop on the 47 route, that was unmarked, no bus stop road marking, flag on either side of the road or anything - Tehidy Country Park, Eastern Lodge, I wasn' to sure if I was waiting in the right place, to be honest, or even actually pull over or stop, but when the bus turned up it did stop where I was waiting on Alexandra Road.

There's another in the centre of Penzance, inbound to the Bus Station but also used by buses to St Ives. It is in Greenmarket, outside the HSBC, and has neither road marking, timetable nor stop flag, unlike buses in the opposite direction. Mind you, I've NEVER seen anyone get on a bus there in thirty years!

Bletchleyite · 13 Jan 2019

Deerfold said:
There's some on the road between Ripponden and Soyland on the 561/562. One one side of the road there's a wide pavement and lampposts. On the other there's a wall which leans at the top towards the road with the single lane road going right up to the wall. Fun waiting for a bus there.

The stops are all in very silly places, away from houses. The road used to be hail and ride which worked much better (I used to get off at the top of a lane which is now several hundred yards from a bus stop).

The trouble with hail and ride is that the places people choose are typically the least safe places - e.g. road junctions. Near where I used to live people typically just stood in the middle of a side road waiting!

Deerfold · 13 Jan 2019

Bletchleyite said:
The trouble with hail and ride is that the places people choose are typically the least safe places - e.g. road junctions. Near where I used to live people typically just stood in the middle of a side road waiting!

There were very few junctions on that stretch - the only big problem was the lack of pavement on one side of the road. The trouble now is that the bus will never stop close to anyone's house. There's one bus an hour in each direction.

Silver Cobra · 13 Jan 2019

There are several around where I live (Central Bedfordshire). The village of Haynes, which is served by Stagecoach Route 9B (formerly route 71), has several of these bus stop signs up along Northwood End Road. The signs are all attached to lamp posts, with the lamp posts on this road all being on the same side. I guess it saved on the cost of installing posts on the opposite side of the road.

The same also applied in the village of Clifton, which is served by Route 9A (formerly 72), where the final stop in the village heading towards Henlow also had one of these signs. However, in the last year or two, Stagecoach had a new stop sign installed on the opposite side of the road, making the notice on the original sign obselete.

MedwayValiant · 13 Jan 2019

There is one only a few hundred yards from my house, served by the busy urban route 145 (Chatham to Warren Wood). I don't know why this is so, but for a long time there were three stops on the northbound side of Catherine Street / Weller Avenue - two of them less than 100 yards apart - which had no parallels on the other side of the road.

There were two well established unmarked stops though, and one of them does now have a flag. The other doesn't, because there's nowhere to put the flag without fouling someone's driveway. So the stop opposite is marked as both sides of the road, and buses usually stop if someone puts their arm out.

Mwanesh · 13 Jan 2019

Bletchleyite said:
I've never quite been sure why providing correct information is so difficult for UK bus operators and Councils, to be honest, but this is a very good example of how we get it very wrong.

Its easy to provide information.There is so much hassle from councils who own the signs and bus stops.Some councils prefer to do it themselves .In some areas operators have complete control of bus stops and signs.There is so much politics in councils try moving a bus stop you will be shocked at the amount of paperwork and red tape you face

brompton rail · 13 Jan 2019

There are two on my local route. Doncaster to Armthorpe- 82 outbound and 81 inbound. One on Beech Road is used fairly often for alighting outbound ( bus stop on that side of road), but only very occasionally does anyone hail a bus opposite to go into town. Nearer town on same route at Briar Road there is a shelter for inbound passengers (well used) with nothing opposite, though I’ve only seen outbound passengers alight here and not board. This isn’t a quiet rural route either, rather a ten minute combined frequency urban service. The two routes - 81/2 - follow different route on the Beech Road / Briar Road section where the frequency is every twenty minutes. No one, drivers or passengers, seem to have a problem with “both sides” bus stop signs!
Bus stop signs and shelters are provided by SYPTE and not the operator (First).

InspectorBloke · 13 Jan 2019

There are a few such stops in Essex that have a message 'buses stop on both sides of the road', although they are gradually being replaced with stops on both sides of the road.

I presume the reason is twofold, firstly to save money and secondly, a lack of suitable location for a flag to be placed.

I can see in Essex that a lot of the older flags have been attached to street furniture etc, but the newer flags have been attached to purpose made poles.

ACBest · 13 Jan 2019

Come and visit Nottinghamshire - they’re everywhere! They’re marked BOTH WAYS in white on black text on the flag on the signed side of the road.

Most of the three routes I mainly drive only have bus stops signed on one side of the road in most areas. I’ve just completed a passenger information audit, and the amount of unmarked stops was horrendous!

henairs · 13 Jan 2019

Hi,
Does anyone with Buckfasleigh, Devon knowledge know if the 88 stop just after Dart Bridge is opposite the one shown on google maps as this piece of road only has a pavement on one side with tree lined vegetation opposite making the sighting of a flag impossible.
I have looked up stop for X38 which is a short distance away on another section of road but which route also crosses Dart Bridge.
Thanks for any help, guess I can always ask the driver if nobody knows.
Cheers, Mike R

SCH117X · 13 Jan 2019

Not doubt due to North Yorkshire County Councils standard incompetence but their is a "Both sides of the road" on a one way road in Harrogate. Google Streetscene - https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@53.9...4!1suybwGhgdYjR82OLlco0lVw!2e0!7i13312!8i6656. The stop is primarily for NYCC demand responsive services that do not use the adjacent bus station.

James101 · 13 Jan 2019

RT4038 said:
Whilst they are comparatively rare, there are plenty around, and new ones instituted.

I would suggest that the usual reasons for them are:
(a) no existing pole or lamp standard to affix a plate to, and the sheer hassle to have one erected in many local authority areas; and/or
(b) residents objection to having a bus stop plate outside their house, mainly for fear of devaluing their property

Rather the opposite to point (b) is on Leek Road, Stoke on Trent where a bus stop flag is mounted directly onto the brickwork a residential house.

https://goo.gl/maps/qqvweBLd1RK2

There’s at least one example of a ‘both sides’ stop in Stoke, in Snyed Green.

RT4038 · 13 Jan 2019

Perhaps the owner has no objection, or more likely it was already there when the current owner bought the place!

padbus · 14 Jan 2019

There are some in Exeter. The one on my local route in Exeter has the outbound stop unmarked which lead to passengers being carried beyond the stop if the driver is not familiar with the route. The inbound stop has a raised kerb for level access and is outside a house. The outbound stop is entirely unmarked. There is a footpath but no houses front the road in that area.

I don't know about saving money by not installing bus stop poles but not far away a new bus stop has been created with the usual flag on a pole. Alongside another pole has been installed for the timetable case.

Mojo · 14 Jan 2019

Bletchleyite said:
There aren't many such stops left, but it was indeed to save money on routes where almost nobody boarded in the outbound direction or in very rural areas.

They used to be fairly common in Bristol before the revival in public transport there about 7 or so years ago. Not exactly a rural area!

TheGrandWazoo · 14 Jan 2019

Apologies for the blurry photo but this is the centre of Shepton Mallet. Marked ALL SERVICES at the top and BOTH DIRECTIONS in the green band directly below the pictogram.

buslad1988 · 14 Jan 2019

There used to be plenty of these around in Ipswich although mainly confined to the metrorider routes in the back streets/estates rather than ‘big bus’ higher frequency corridors.

I think all but gone now with the gradual reduction in such routes and the local authority taking control of bus stop signs etc. And that’s a whole other topic... the weird and wonderful locations/raised kerbs and money wasted on bus stops/shelters by local authorities in bizarre places!

Eyersey468 · 14 Jan 2019

There are a few around East Yorkshire where the sign says both sides of the road.

Wirewiper · 14 Jan 2019

There even used to be a couple of Transport for London examples, I don't know if they are still there. They were on the 166 route somewhere between Banstead and Epsom.

There is an example in Meadfoot Sea Road, Torquay, which is a double-run on the 64 route. There is a bus stop westbound close to the junction of St Mark's Road where passengers can be picked up towards both the Town Centre and The Warberries; alighting passengers are dropped off on the other side of the road as the bus double-runs down to Hesketh Crescent.

Buses stop both side of street stop

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