Bus Frequencies

[Railman10]

I am often amused (actually irritated) when I see buses with a poster showing ‘Up to every 10 minutes’ for the route concerned. In reality, these services never run more frequently than every 10 minutes and outside peak periods often run at frequencies of 30 minutes or more.

Why then don’t bus companies advertise service frequencies as ‘down to every 10 minutes’?

 

[Jordan Adam]

I am often amused (actually irritated) when I see buses with a poster showing ‘Up to every 10 minutes’ for the route concerned. In reality, these services never run more frequently than every 10 minutes and outside peak periods often run at frequencies of 30 minutes or more.

Why then don’t bus companies advertise service frequencies as ‘down to every 10 minutes’?

"Down to every 10 minutes" would imply that Every 10 Minutes is the least frequent it operates. "Up to Every 10 Minutes" implies that the service runs every 10 minutes at it's peak.

In Aberdeen we even having branding which states "Every 7 Minutes Or Better".

 

[Robertj21a]

I am often amused (actually irritated) when I see buses with a poster showing ‘Up to every 10 minutes’ for the route concerned. In reality, these services never run more frequently than every 10 minutes and outside peak periods often run at frequencies of 30 minutes or more.

Why then don’t bus companies advertise service frequencies as ‘down to every 10 minutes’?

Probably because it's correct as written !

 

[Megafuss]

Nottingham City Transport advertise frequencies "from every xy minutes" on side of buses

 

[Busaholic]

I am often amused (actually irritated) when I see buses with a poster showing ‘Up to every 10 minutes’ for the route concerned. In reality, these services never run more frequently than every 10 minutes and outside peak periods often run at frequencies of 30 minutes or more.

Why then don’t bus companies advertise service frequencies as ‘down to every 10 minutes’?

SOME bus companies, First Kernow amongst them, continue to advertise frequencies that are never achieved. Their M6 Penzance to Mousehole service has dedicated buses (in theory) that carry the message 'up to every 20 minutes' whereas that frequency, which was only in the summer, ended in September 2017: various stops are also adorned with the same message. Add to that, when longer sds or even dds substitute the actual 30 minute service becomes 60 minutes at Mousehole Harbour because longer buses can't (literally) get through.

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

I am often amused (actually irritated) when I see buses with a poster showing ‘Up to every 10 minutes’ for the route concerned. In reality, these services never run more frequently than every 10 minutes and outside peak periods often run at frequencies of 30 minutes or more.

Why then don’t bus companies advertise service frequencies as ‘down to every 10 minutes’?

Because it’s advertising. It’s marketing. You emphasise the positive.

Whiskas didn’t talk about the 2 out of 10 cats that don’t like it but the 8/10 that preferred it.

 

[Llandudno]

For some reason Arriva don’t actively promote ‘buses every 35 minutes ‘ on route 13 between Llandudno and Prestatyn!

 

[TheWalrus]

For some reason Arriva don’t actively promote ‘buses every 35 minutes ‘ on route 13 between Llandudno and Prestatyn!

Presumably a round trip on this route is too much to reliably operate a 30 minute service without using an additional bus and incurring a considerable layover which wouldn’t be efficient. The only other option is to interwork with another route.

 

[Andyh82]

Often you get branding that says ‘Every 10 minutes*’, With the asterisk never explained anywhere

 

[Mwanesh]

The asterik explains that outside peak periods it is a different frequency.

 

[PeterC]

Whenever I have seen this used in the northern Home Counties the frequency has been for Monday to Friday between morning and afternoon peaks.

 

[MedwayValiant]

SOME bus companies, First Kernow amongst them, continue to advertise frequencies that are never achieved.

Arriva have their moments with that as well. The screens on buses on Medway route 145 still proclaim "up to every 7 or 8 minutes". I don't know why they ever proclaimed that since "up to every 7 minutes" would have been entirely true, but the frequency has been reduced twice since the claim was even notionally true and is actually every 12 minutes. (Often more, because over a quarter of scheduled journeys don't run.)

In theory, it is actually an offence for a bus to carry an untrue statement of its frequency. I don't seriously suggest that the operators who do it should be dragged through the courts, but how long it would take for someone in an office to reprogram the screen to be correct?

 

[carlberry]

Arriva have their moments with that as well. The screens on buses on Medway route 145 still proclaim "up to every 7 or 8 minutes". I don't know why they ever proclaimed that since "up to every 7 minutes" would have been entirely true, but the frequency has been reduced twice since the claim was even notionally true and is actually every 12 minutes. (Often more, because over a quarter of scheduled journeys don't run.)

In theory, it is actually an offence for a bus to carry an untrue statement of its frequency. I don't seriously suggest that the operators who do it should be dragged through the courts, but how long it would take for someone in an office to reprogram the screen to be correct?

I suspect the most you'd be able to do is report it to the advertising standards authority. Buses with inaccurate statements on them has been much discussed lately!

 

[Simon75]

Arriva Winsford have some ex Macclesfield Sapphires for the 130 Manchester-Macclesfield still with branding up to every 30minutes
That frequency stopped about a year ago (now every hour Macclesfield-East Didsbury)

 

[Railman10]

Thanks for all these comments. Of course I realise that ‘up to’ may sound better than ‘down to’ but it is incorrect (and the Whiskers advert is correct!). I wish bus companies would stop thinking they can con customers in this way.
It could be that it’s not working in the light of recent reports about the massive decline in bus ridership in the provinces however!

 

[edwin_m]

A time in minutes isn't a frequency, it's an interval. As the frequency goes up the interval goes down. So it's pretty confusing if buses or people on this forum talk about the frequency being more or less than a certain number of minutes.