In a world of satnavs, why should any driver get lost, especially given that satnavs can be set to cover multiple points across a route?
In my view satnavs are not always the best solution. Not long ago a coach driver on rail replacement drove straight into a low bridge in London - another private hire bus got stuck down a road with a width restriction - there's no way they were following printed maps. If anything, satnavs can divert attention away from critical road signs and obstructions.
They are good for routes like Newbury Park to Southend Victoria, or Dorking to Effingham Junction where the road network is not especially complex. But within cities with dense road networks, there is no substitute for proper road knowledge.
I think there are seven ways of teaching drivers a route. Each has its pros and cons and the effectiveness is very much dependent on the driver's area knowledge, confidence and aptitude;
1. Providing maps/pace notes
2. Providing pilots
3. Providing a sat nav
4. Signposting
5. The driver goes on a bus and observes the route before driving it
6. The driver goes in their car and drives over the route
7. The driver follows another bus
1. Works if the driver has map reading skills. Not everyone can map read. Some councils don't like displaying side road names at junctions which makes life harder.
2. Pilots can be very useful. Personally I'd rather have a map so I can make my own decisions about lane positioning before turns and adequate warning of bus stops.
3. Some believe sat navs are the panacea. I don't trust them unless I've programmed the routes myself and made sure it matches the map exactly. Some drivers use them and end up failing to pick up passengers waiting in the correct place for stations or go into autopilot and crash into low bridges. Dangerous things without road knowledge and a map as backup.
4. Signposts are an incredibly helpful aide, if clearly displayed in good time. At complicated roundabouts you can blink and miss them and come unstuck. They're a nightmare to work with on routes like Stratford to Richmond where you encounter signposts for about a dozen different routes and the route letter changes twice along the way! No substitute for route knowledge in such cases.
5. This method is useful for some drivers but not everyone. It can cost £4k+ to put a load of drivers on a bus for a day and some will studiously take notes, others work better with other forms of route learning. I've been on sessions where the job starts immediately after route learning, or a few days later and several buses still get lost.
6. This is unpaid time and there's no guarantee the correct route is followed.
7. The less said about this practice the better but I am wholly against it in passenger service on healthy and safety grounds.