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What is the closest distance between two stops which are served by the same service? I'd discount cases where a route stops at one stop part of the day and another at a different time, I'm thinking ones where you could get on and get off the same bus - if you were so inclined.
The pair which lead to this thought are in Sheffield, Prince of Wales Road/Noehill Road and Prince of Wales Road/Motehall Road which are 137.7m apart.
I'm sure there will be closer ones, in particular are there any under 100m apart?
There's some near me that are about 98 metres apart (Aylesham Health Centre and Aylesham Queens Road). They used to be further apart but the health centre was moved due to the construction of a new road.
The closest one i can think of in Manchester is on the 50 (Northbound). On Birchfields Road/ Anson Road between "Dickenson road stop D, and St Anselm Hall". Googlemaps suggests its just shy of 100m (essentially either side of a junction). As far as I remember, St Anselm hall stop was added at some point in the late 90s when short journies were introduced starting at the junction. (the next stop was notorious for overcrowding at the time)
There are two sets in Keynsham. On the High Street there are a pair 105m apart, one of which won’t be served from September. There’s another pair at Bilbie Green which are 95m apart.
One example I can recall is Spencer Road in Langley that has 3 bus stops on First Beeline route 7 towards Slough & Britwell that are about 100m from each other, whole road is apparently about 360m long according to measure tool on Google Maps.
What's the rules in terms of buses which do a loop? There's a few bus stops which are effectively opposite each other which don't terminate on the loop. Amersham Road in Blyth to pick one. You could technically get on one side of the road and then get off 2 minutes later opposite.
Also in Sheffield, this time on the SC1 city centre link service. City Hall to Carver Street is one that struck me as extremely short. 48 metres in a straight line according to Google Maps, more like 60-70 metres following the road layout.
What's the rules in terms of buses which do a loop? There's a few bus stops which are effectively opposite each other which don't terminate on the loop. Amersham Road in Blyth to pick one. You could technically get on one side of the road and then get off 2 minutes later opposite.
I would imagine the "distance" being measured is the distance the bus would travel to get between those stops (or at least, that's how I'm thinking of this question).
There are so many looping routes there would be no true answer.
With that I would like to mention outside Hag Fold station, there are (technically) stops ~80m apart "as the bus travels" where the bus turns the corner, with stops on both sides.
And these are official stops in the system too, take a look at bustimes.org
The closest one i can think of in Manchester is on the 50 (Northbound). On Birchfields Road/ Anson Road between "Dickenson road stop D, and St Anselm Hall". Googlemaps suggests its just shy of 100m (essentially either side of a junction). As far as I remember, St Anselm hall stop was added at some point in the late 90s when short journies were introduced starting at the junction. (the next stop was notorious for overcrowding at the time)
Bit of looking around on Google Maps let me find a ~80 metre gap between stops on Portland Street, serving 33 different routes (although not all of them have both stops in the data stream, the stops themselves list "all routes").
Whitchurch, Shropshire has a series of 7 bus stops along Chemistry (the street’s name) all around 100m apart. There’s also some bizarrely placed stops, including one on a roundabout with no specific road space and another placed mid way across a junction the bus is routed to turn right at.
I would imagine the "distance" being measured is the distance the bus would travel to get between those stops (or at least, that's how I'm thinking of this question).
There are so many looping routes there would be no true answer.
It's a case I'd not really thought about, so no rule as such! I was really thinking distance in the same direction / along the same piece of road, reversals and loops can complicate matters, but anything unusual is worth a mention.
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Close to there, although at the moment only to be served for the next month or so, on Cheedale Avenue there are two stops 65m apart as the crow flies, more as the bus loops around.
Depending on the rules a contender could be Asda Queensferry, there is two consecutive stops on the 9 about 20m from eachother on foot, but the bus goes to a roundabout and back again so the journey is 200m approx
Approximately 10 metres. In my home village of Haswell. Look up service 24, heading towards Durham it's timed at the 'Oddfellows Arms' (durapamd) then about 60 feet later (by road) at 'Church view' (duratpma). Do I win a prize?
In york. There are two stops on Bishopthorpe road ( city bound) approximately 50 metres apart. Between Campleshon road and Balmoral Terrace & just after Balmoral Terrace.
Approximately 10 metres. In my home village of Haswell. Look up service 24, heading towards Durham it's timed at the 'Oddfellows Arms' (durapamd) then about 60 feet later (by road) at 'Church view' (duratpma). Do I win a prize?
Just looked that up on Google Streetview - you can see one stop clearly from the next! I'm guessing this was a legacy from when there used to be a direct service from Easington Lane. Must admit I can't recall what the service pattern there was - always used to bypass Haswell as the X40 I got to 6th Form went through Haswell Plough. It looks as if there are no services that way now!
In Todmorden, the first stop after leaving the bus station heading for Halifax was moved further east a couple of years back, as it was in the way of a new zebra crossing on Halifax Road. The new stop is only 78m short of the next stop, as measured on Google Streetview.
In Loughborough, the eastbound Tennyson Road and Burns Road bus stops are only slightly more than 100 metres apart. They are both served by the 5 town service and the 127 from Shepshed to Leicester. The westbound stop at Burns Road is directly opposite the eastbound stop, but the westbound Tennyson Road stop is a short distance further to the southwest than the eastbound stop.
Bellhouse Road, Gregg House Road & Bellhouse Road, Gregg House Crescent bus stops on 75 in Shiregreen are extremely close to each other, same on the other side of the road on the current 76 side.
I think the two stops opposite each other on Sealand Road at the Heathrow Airport Cargo Centre are a strong contender to be the closest. They are directly opposite each other and all buses stop at both. The bus stops at one and then immediately turns around at the roundabout and stops at the other. If you were to measure it than the two stops are definitely less than ten metres apart. It takes less than ten seconds to walk between them as all you do is cross the road. It always baffles me why they built both as all buses have to pass by both as it is not a through road and the stops are not even for different directions as all buses serve both.
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