Effective methods of reducing bus bunching on high-frequency routes

[Peter Sarf]

Even where bunching can occur, what realistically can be done to prevent it? There are so many factors that can create this effect from passenger boarding, presenting / paying for tickets, enquiries about the route to the driver etc. And there are external factors such as traffic density & flows. Sure some level of improving boarding times, especially around ticketing can help a bit, but at the end of a day a bus in front picking up a higher density of passengers than the bus behind is potentially going to get caught up. Putting operationally convenient mitigations such as terminating short, stopping picking up passengers where capacity is still available, diverting to avoid passengers and even reducing frequencies to reduce the chance of bunching might please the pen pushers, it won't please the paying punters.

In terms of passenger satisfaction having a bus available to go in the opposite/return direction has benefits. If a bus is never turned short of its destination the problem migrates to the opposite direction and just gets worse and worse. The advantage of turning a bus short of its destination is that it fills the gap in front of it (on its return journey).

 

[RT4038]

The problem of bunching is one mainly confined to high frequency routes, which outside of London there are not many. Buses on routes travelling part way along the same corridor may well bunch but the conditions on the freehold sections may be completely different resulting in bunching from the junction. Yes, different rates of fare collection at a particular stop will cause delay to one bus more than another, but so will the boarding, docking and alighting of one mobility scooter on the front bus, one articulated lorry backing into a shopping parade loading dock in front of the front bus, the effect of one set of temporary traffic lights, one passenger surge or parking problem outside a school or major employer, one driver changeover mid route on the front bus but the following bus is a run through etc etc.

Most provincial bus operators will have one controller on duty at one time at the depot, whose job it will be to cover the work of absence, sickness etc, ticket machine changeovers, pay paperwork and a myriad of other administrative tasks. That controller will not have the time to be studying the performance of every bus on every route at the depot and giving instructions to drivers and keeping tabs on all that for hours on end. Just not going to happen.

For every conscientious @Geordie driver who has the service performance at heart, there are 2 other drivers who will take the opportunity to miss trips, miss pieces of route, miss passengers, if companies allow a 'common sense' free for all.

 

[markymark2000]

Unsure how the 'modern' method of operations works, but lost mileage is something measured internally - i.e: reasons must be given for lost trips and it's always one item on a monthly meeting with the senior management in a large bus operation. If that figure is 'high' then it's discussed and possibly action taken. Somewhere like Stagecoach that would mean a manager relieved of their duties and redeployment....
So having control staff being inflexible is one possible symptom - it comes from depot management not wanting to lose mileage. Some will be better than others at management but you'll get that in all walks of life.

Isn't everything over a certain amount late (I want to say 20 minutes) classed as lost mileage anyway?

To what extent? Trams should in theory bunch less because boarding and alighting takes seconds.

Less able passengers, driver changes, lights at junctions don't always change instantly depending on traffic in the area. Slow moving pedestrians infront of the tram as not everyone is as willing to move out the way.

 

[neilmc]

Bunching is always going to happen on a high-frequency route. It's high-frequency because a lot of people live in a fairly compact area and a lot of them want to use the bus, also there is likely to be quite a lot of other traffic. So a set of adverse traffic lights, a school coming out, a mother with baby and pushchair, the odd passenger not knowing the route or the fare, all can contribute to a slight delay which increases as the subsequent stops are more busy. This was very prevalent in my day as a conductor in Leeds, and even more so on busy OPO routes ; the end of visiting time at St James

... I was going to say, at the end of visiting time at St. James the OPO service 42 could be stood for a full ten minutes boarding passengers until the next bus drew in behind. Things don't seem to have changed all that much, when I was in Leeds earlier this year the Chapeltown Road service, still every five minutes throughout the main day, saw four buses in a convoy leaving town. In my day buses were never turned short, that would have caused passenger anger at a needless change of bus and "reward" the late runner, in any case on the Middleton-Moortown there were always other buses which would come into the gaps as scheduled buses turned at Belle Isle, Roundhay and Dewsbury Road.

In Manchester they would often turn the destination to "Private" and run drop-off only but passengers weren't stupid and could see that they were being denied the service.

 

[43055]

In Derby I have seen a Mickleover with 'i'm only going as far as the Royal Derby Hospital' once. Presumably running late and a quick spin at the hospital will put it ack on time into town. When the service ran every 7-8 mins they would regularly bunch on the way into town in the morning.

When the villager is delayed by over 30 mins or so it is common for the late vehicle to then run empty to the other end of the route down the A38 leaving around a hours gap in the service. Personally, I think some attempt at running a it in service would be better even if it's part of the route.

 

[Busaholic]

In none of this conversation is the basic human element introduced i.e. the driver and their modus operandi, foibles, driving ability, situational awareness, etc. Above all, attitude can be important, a bad driver may well have a bad, or inappropriate, attitude and, ideally, should find another job: but then, that'd be a bus not running. To an extent, tram services can be prey to some of these things too, and until public service vehicles are fully automated and we have become programmed robots we'll have to put up with imperfection.

 

[edwin_m]

To what extent? Trams should in theory bunch less because boarding and alighting takes seconds.

I suggest that's basically down to the sheer number of trams and the fact that their arrival times aren't precise. So fairly frequently one will join the busy section just behind another one, so will end up queueing at each stop. As already mentioned the dwell time of a tram is much less dependent on the number boarding and alighting than a bus, and Metrolink always stops at every stop which removes another of the factors creating bunching - if nobody is boarding or alighting a bus then it doesn't even need to stop.

but so will the boarding, docking and alighting of one mobility scooter on the front bus, one articulated lorry backing into a shopping parade loading dock in front of the front bus, the effect of one set of temporary traffic lights, one passenger surge or parking problem outside a school or major employer, one driver changeover mid route on the front bus but the following bus is a run through etc etc.

These are the factors that inevitably occur and create some unevenness in the service, but the key issue is whether this will just even out naturally or will increase over time if nobody intervenes to sort it out. Higher numbers of passengers make it more likely that a disruption of this sort will turn into bunching, and buses having pay on entry and limited number of doors, as well as not having to stop if nobody is boarding/alighting, will increase the effect of more passengers. In engineering terms it's a damped oscillation that may become unstable depending on various factors, like for example the way older trains or even Metrolink trams develop a lateral "hunting" oscillation above a certain speed and with certain conditions of wheel, rail and suspension.

 

[GusB]

Trams are outwith the scope of this thread. Anyone who wishes to carry this line of discussion on is free to do so in the Other Transport section of the forum.

 

[TUC]

One tactic is to terminate a journey short, transfer any passengers and send the bus back in the opposite direction. Another is to stop to set down only.

That is problematic for disabled passengers which may have been assisted onto the bus by a non-travelling family member/friend and is relying on the equivalent meeting them at the end of the journey to assist them off.

 

[Dai Corner]

That is problematic for disabled passengers which may have been assisted onto the bus by a non-travelling family member/friend and is relying on the equivalent meeting them at the end of the journey to assist them off.

I've never ever seen that happen, but if such a situation did occur I'd hope the drivers would offer assistance if other passengers didn't.

 

[Peter Sarf]

That is problematic for disabled passengers which may have been assisted onto the bus by a non-travelling family member/friend and is relying on the equivalent meeting them at the end of the journey to assist them off.

I think i have seen this. One time the bus I was on was left to plod on and the one behind did the turn round, we had to wait for a bunch of passengers from behind. When I got off I realised there was a wheelchair passenger downstairs. This did mean that the slow bus was effectively getting overtaken so ruining the order of things !.

Something touched upon up thread. Yes some drivers drive slower than others. So bunching is bound to occur. Or, to be frank, not all drivers drive like madmen trying to stick to the timetable. This maybe a feature of our fine capital of course !. But I find it does rely on passengers having good balance and quick reactions so as to catch a passing handrail when the direction of walking is overruled !. I am not sure I am still qualified for that fair fairground ride.

Something I will say even though it is obvious, but just in case. If the busses (etc) are bunched together then it follows that there is a gap opening up else where - that is unless the bus service is furnished with an unlimited supply of spare busses. So it is not just about getting rid of the bunch of busses but also about getting those surplus busses in to the gap. The gap needs to be reasonably near to the bunching. In reality the gap is in front of the buch of course so the only way to catch the gap is near the end of the route were the gap comes back past the bunch.

 

[Mitchell Hurd]

Would only really work if the bus is empty, or at a push if passengers are willing to transfer.

This is probably a better idea although the dwell time might still cause problems if a high volume of passengers are alighting. Also how would you advertise on the front that people cannot board the bus? “Sorry Bus Full”?

It would be something like "Sorry. Not in service".

 

[Trnsprt4Sctlnd]

Ensuring that buses are prioritised over private cars and ensuring that boarding and alighting can be done as quickly as possible, particularly boarding.

You need as few tickets being printed as possible excluding day tickets for Example.

The ticket machine chosen by the operator needs to be able to perform quickly with scanning cards, taking fare payments and printing necessary tickets as well as choosing a machine which has an intuitive interface which is simple to navigate.

 

[Peter Sarf]

It would be something like "Sorry. Not in service".

In my experience (TfL I am looking at you) just sailing past.

 

[dodecahedron67]

A method I used this christmas just gone, where a service was running a bus every 3.5min, was to be stood at the stop everyone wanted on at and just telling drivers "right shut your doors and go, the next bus is here" even if they were only 50% full, with some running board swaps on the ticketer to appease Mr T.C.

You'd be surprised how much quicker a large (several hundred people) queue clears with regular dispatching of buses as opposed to loading each bus until it's completely full sometimes...

 

[Peter Sarf]

A method I used this christmas just gone, where a service was running a bus every 3.5min, was to be stood at the stop everyone wanted on at and just telling drivers "right shut your doors and go, the next bus is here" even if they were only 50% full, with some running board swaps on the ticketer to appease Mr T.C.

You'd be surprised how much quicker a large (several hundred people) queue clears with regular dispatching of buses as opposed to loading each bus until it's completely full sometimes...

yes, in contactless situations (e.g. TfL), once the queue for the stairs has reached back to the entry doors its a good time to leave if another bus is close behind.

 

[Deerfold]

Ensuring that buses are prioritised over private cars and ensuring that boarding and alighting can be done as quickly as possible, particularly boarding.

You need as few tickets being printed as possible excluding day tickets for Example.

Ideally day tickets are bought off-bus too. I don't travel every day and don't always do the same thing, so I buy local town tickets (with a 20% discount) or all services by my local operator (at a 22% discount) or an all-operator ticket for the county (which used to have a reasonable discount, but the tickets I'm using up are actually more than those bought on-board) on my phone - quicker boarding and less worry about damaging the ticket.

 

[RJ]

@hkstudent I would have liked to reply to the post in your thread, but it was locked.

I personally wouldn’t propose a scheme to introduce skip stopping variants of routes, unless it was a proper limited stop route like the 607 or X140. One of the maxims of TfL’s service planning guidelines is keeping the network simple. Part of that is keeping any kind of route variation to a minimum and ridding the public number of routes of suffixes and not having uneven gaps in the service where it can be helped.

Demand on the network is seasonal. What happens in the school holidays when reliability tends to be better and running times drop? Would the variants remain in place? If not the scheduling would get awfully complicated!

Bunching management is under the remit of the service control department of each bus operator. If there is an issue with crowding then that should be raised with TfL and it will be investigated. Sometimes service planning solutions are not the appropriate way to deal with crowding.

 

[hkstudent]

@hkstudent I would have liked to reply to the post in your thread, but it was locked.

I personally wouldn’t propose a scheme to introduce skip stopping variants of routes, unless it was a proper limited stop route like the 607 or X140. One of the maxims of TfL’s service planning guidelines is keeping the network simple. Part of that is keeping any kind of route variation to a minimum and ridding the public number of routes of suffixes and not having uneven gaps in the service where it can be helped.

Demand on the network is seasonal. What happens in the school holidays when reliability tends to be better and running times drop? Would the variants remain in place? If not the scheduling would get awfully complicated!

Bunching management is under the remit of the service control department of each bus operator. If there is an issue with crowding then that should be raised with TfL and it will be investigated. Sometimes service planning solutions are not the appropriate way to deal with crowding.

The problem with holding buses halfway to alleviate bunching at the end is that it increases the journey time and would definitely lead to some buses needing to terminate early to make up time. This pushes up % mileage run and results in a drop in the total service provided.

Instead, running some buses non-stop can alleviate bunching and allow for making up time if the first bus does that to try to increase the gap in-between.
Rather than terminate some buses halfway, which forces all people to take the next one, maybe it's better to skip stops and ask some passengers to change for the next service instead?

 

[PaulMc7]

I've never really experienced anything different other than a lot of bunching with bus services throughout my life to be honest. Unless congestion is tackled properly and ticket machines suddenly become absolutely rapid then I think it's unavoidable. I also don't think cutting some services short really helps either because the second or third bus of the bunch is very often late too in most situations where bunching occurs so you just delay them more by having people go from the first bus onto the next one.

 

[Bletchleyite]

The cause of bunching is that a bus gets delayed in traffic and then because it's delayed it picks up more people, which as the Ticketer system is so slow tends to result in a 5-10 second transaction per passenger and it rapidly gets worse.

While it's impossible to fix it 100%, the mitigations are the same as anything else regarding speed of operation:

1. Properly designed bus lanes (almost none of these are to be found in the UK, but a day riding round a German city will change your mind on how effective they can be).
2. Off bus ticketing or tap-in tap-out contactless, so passengers can pay/show their fare without breaking stride on boarding. The London system certainly achieves this, but provincial operators still seem uninterested.
3. On routes where there is boarding and alighting traffic at a reasonable number of stops, two sets of doors.
4. Consideration of moving to articulated rather than double deck operation - double decks will dwell longer because some people can't/won't start moving downstairs until the bus has stopped.
5. Active control (a few ideas outlined in other posts) rather than "they're all out, there'll be one along eventually".

Everyone will be unsurprised at this statement: bunching is endemic in UK provincial style operation, but is much less common in London (but still happens), and quite rare in Germany where all these mitigations tend to be used well.

 

[Robertj21a]

The cause of bunching is that a bus gets delayed in traffic and then because it's delayed it picks up more people, which as the Ticketer system is so slow tends to result in a 5-10 second transaction per passenger and it rapidly gets worse.

While it's impossible to fix it 100%, the mitigations are the same as anything else regarding speed of operation:

1. Properly designed bus lanes (almost none of these are to be found in the UK, but a day riding round a German city will change your mind on how effective they can be).
2. Off bus ticketing or tap-in tap-out contactless, so passengers can pay/show their fare without breaking stride on boarding. The London system certainly achieves this, but provincial operators still seem uninterested.
3. On routes where there is boarding and alighting traffic at a reasonable number of stops, two sets of doors.
4. Consideration of moving to articulated rather than double deck operation - double decks will dwell longer because some people can't/won't start moving downstairs until the bus has stopped.
5. Active control (a few ideas outlined in other posts) rather than "they're all out, there'll be one along eventually".

Everyone will be unsurprised at this statement: bunching is endemic in UK provincial style operation, but is much less common in London (but still happens), and quite rare in Germany where all these mitigations tend to be used well.

Where does the UK go wrong if '.....the bus lanes aren't properly designed....'.?

 

[Bletchleyite]

Where does the UK go wrong if '.....the bus lanes aren't properly designed....'.?

In my Germanic experience, the most important aspect of effective bus-lane design is traffic light overtakes. There are a few in the UK, but not many, mostly the bus lane peters out just before the lights which means the bus has trouble getting out. Germany and the Netherlands have them at a very large number of junctions.

You even get stuff like an undertake with bus priority to turn left (right in the UK) so again it doesn't have to fight its way across.

The UK just prefers to use them as an anti-driver tool rather than designing them effectively.

It does help that in most European countries a bus can use white tram signals, so you don't need a traffic island to put separate lights on, but I'm sure the UK could legislate on that if it was in any way serious.

Along similar lines, you put bus stops near and just before traffic light junctions, and the lights change in favour of the bus as it arrives at the stop, or in some cases where you would have a dwell when the driver presses a button, so they can always get out.

The principle has to basically be "the bus moves when it wants, everything else waits".

The other thing is that cycles and buses are incompatible - you need segregated cycle provision too.

 

[edwin_m]

It may be better to make the bus priority conditional on whether the bus is running late. This provides a means of recovering delays, so schedules may be slower on average but are more predictable. v

 

[Bletchleyite]

It may be better to make the bus priority conditional on whether the bus is running late. This provides a means of recovering delays, so schedules may be slower on average but are more predictable. v

The bus should ALWAYS have priority over ALL other road users. It's the only way it works properly.

 

[Deerfold]

It may be better to make the bus priority conditional on whether the bus is running late. This provides a means of recovering delays, so schedules may be slower on average but are more predictable. v

I'd only implement that where there's more than one bus approaching from different directions.

 

[Bletchleyite]

I'd only implement that where there's more than one bus approaching from different directions.

Possibly in central London where you have that web-like network with there not being one obvious route to give priority to otherwise? It's quite unlike buses in most of the rest of the UK which are more hub-and-spoke like.

 

[Deerfold]

Possibly in central London where you have that web-like network with there not being one obvious route to give priority to otherwise? It's quite unlike buses in most of the rest of the UK which are more hub-and-spoke like.

Many traffic lights in London do give priority to buses, but it's hard to notice as there are so often competing buses wanting to go through.

If there's just one route through lights, it's far easier.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Many traffic lights in London do give priority to buses, but it's hard to notice as there are so often competing buses wanting to go through.

If there's just one route through lights, it's far easier.

I can't think of a single set that have an overtake in central London, though. To be fair there's mostly not space without legislation to allow for tram lights to be used for the bus; as UK law stands you need an island.

 

[WAB]

In Leeds, it gets to a certain time of the afternoon and you'll be stood at the bus stop for 40 minutes on a 5-minute headway corridor with bus after bus flying past out of service as the drivers are out of hours. The first bus after the gap gets later and later because of incredibly slow boarding times and only one door. Turning back one or two buses early would be better for the passenger, but I don't think anyone actually monitors the service.