Why are bus/coach services disrupted more than years ago

[Simon75]

With the current weather, why is it that every winter buses and coaches seem to be disrupted more than years ago?

 

[Lewisham2221]

There's probably several factors at play here.

Firstly, most buses these days have fully automatic gearboxes, whereas in years gone by there would be far more manual and semi-automatic geared buses which allow an additional level of control.

Secondly, since the advent of low-floor buses, buses tend to be be much lighter at the front end, with the vast majority of weight concentrated towards the rear. This is great for traction, but not so good for steering in slippery conditions.

Thirdly, far more cars on the roads these days. Where in years passed, cars would be confined to people's driveways etc, there's far more on street parking nowadays (often cited as a reason for removing buses from estates etc) which can make roads which are normally passable a lot more risky in poor road/weather conditions.

Fourthly, continuing with amount of cars in the road but also adding in modern day driving standards. Buses are far more likely to encounter, say, a car coming towards them when travelling up a hill, which is unwilling to give way. This results in the bus having to stop or slow down, and having lost all momentum, struggle to get going again. Also, far more likely to encounter a sideways, wheel spinning BMW blocking the road.

 

[Titfield]

There's probably several factors at play here.

Firstly, most buses these days have fully automatic gearboxes, whereas in years gone by there would be far more manual and semi-automatic geared buses which allow an additional level of control.

Secondly, since the advent of low-floor buses, buses tend to be be much lighter at the front end, with the vast majority of weight concentrated towards the rear. This is great for traction, but not so good for steering in slippery conditions.

Thirdly, far more cars on the roads these days. Where in years passed, cars would be confined to people's driveways etc, there's far more on street parking nowadays (often cited as a reason for removing buses from estates etc) which can make roads which are normally passable a lot more risky in poor road/weather conditions.

Fourthly, continuing with amount of cars in the road but also adding in modern day driving standards. Buses are far more likely to encounter, say, a car coming towards them when travelling up a hill, which is unwilling to give way. This results in the bus having to stop or slow down, and having lost all momentum, struggle to get going again. Also, far more likely to encounter a sideways, wheel spinning BMW blocking the road.

I would add in that companies are more risk averse / risk sensitive partly due to the increasing likelihood of legal action against the company in the event of an "incident".

 

[ChrisC]

I would add in that companies are more risk averse / risk sensitive partly due to the increasing likelihood of legal action against the company in the event of an "incident".

I would think that is very much part of the reason as it is in many other industries and organisations.
People ask the same questions about why do schools close so readily after snowfall. In the last children would have great fun at playtimes in the snow and ice. Part of the fun was to slide on the ice the length of the playground. Now for health and safety reasons the children are not allowed out on the ice and all paths on the school site have to be clear of snow and ice before the school is declared safe to open. If a child falls and breaks a leg on a path that hasn’t been cleared of ice parents can be very quick to take legal action. Times have changed.

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

There are a number of things at play.

It is true that vehicle design is a factor. Similarly, there is a consideration for health and safety of passengers and staff (and potential litigation) so that is an issue. However, part of it is that, via social media, you tend to find these things out more.

My late father was a driver at a depot and I can remember a Saturday morning where three Bristol VRs were blown off the road. The third one was actually returning to base after the first two incidents. Didn't make it into the local rag.

Let's not fall into the trap that things were always so much better in the past. I can remember plenty of times where buses were hauled off the road when the snow began to fall.

 

[RT4038]

Vehicle design is a factor. Other road users are a factor. Risk averse companies are a factor, as well as risk averse staff (everyone must 'keep safe' - which means to a good proportion - 'stay at home if you can'). Staff living far from the Depot and unable [or unwilling] to make it in is also a factor. Bus services (and going to work/school ) are not seen as the priority any more - 'keeping safe' is.

I think possibly the 1950s and early 60s (and earlier), when buses were (a) mostly front engined and manual gearbox, and (b) essential transport for the vast majority, there was more effort made to maintain services, but really what is the point vs. the risk of accident and blame now?

 

[Mwanesh]

I would add in that companies are more risk averse / risk sensitive partly due to the increasing likelihood of legal action against the company in the event of an "incident".

Some one will probably take a video and say profit over safety. So to avoid anything they just pull buses off the road.

 

[Lewisham2221]

And just to add as a side note, best bus I've ever driven in the snow was an Optare Solo. Engine weight at the back to help with traction, fuel tank right at the front giving extra weight to help with steering.

 

[nw1]

There are a number of things at play.

It is true that vehicle design is a factor. Similarly, there is a consideration for health and safety of passengers and staff (and potential litigation) so that is an issue. However, part of it is that, via social media, you tend to find these things out more.

My late father was a driver at a depot and I can remember a Saturday morning where three Bristol VRs were blown off the road. The third one was actually returning to base after the first two incidents. Didn't make it into the local rag.

Let's not fall into the trap that things were always so much better in the past. I can remember plenty of times where buses were hauled off the road when the snow began to fall.

I do have memories of both the 1985 and 1987 snowy spells. And these were proper snowy spells, the like of which we've only seen a few times in recent years (both ends of 2010, January 2013 and March 2018).

In both 1985 and 1987 I had quite a strong interest in the local bus operations. If I remember right there was little disruption in 1985, despite it being snowy for two weeks in Jan and another week in Feb. The Feb week was half-term and I remember observing buses keeping to time that week despite quite heavy snowfall. I think they just managed to effectively clear the main roads.

In 1987 the cold was more severe (something like -5 during the daytime for a few days) and the snow heavier, and thus disruption was quite a bit greater for a short period. But they did attempt to run a normal timetable. When it got a little bit less cold (around zero) things seemed to return to normal.

The impact on the (third-rail electrified) railway line was considerably more severe though, basically no EMUs could use the line without assistance (hence a memorable journey home from school in 1987 on a severely delayed VEP hauled by a 33...)

 

[markymark2000]

I have a few observations. I will say before I start, each point is an individual point and it is my experience, no concrete facts behind it but based off my experiences and conversations that I have had with staff.

1. I would say agree with others that there are more cars but on top of that, the traffic levels are a lot more variable. The exact same driver could do the exact same trip and yet one day do it in 15 minutes, the next day do it in 20, the day after 12. This variable traffic can make it very difficult to timetable buses. Now worse than ever since Covid as Mondays are or were quieter than the rest of the week. Friday commuter traffic would be down but evening peak would start earlier. That kind of variable traffic is very hard to timetable for without different timetables for every day of the week or doing a D&G and take the normal journey time, times it by 17 and that is the timetabled journey time.

2. Because of health and safety, there are a lot more roadworks requiring full blocks. I think going back a few years (albeit I am not old enough to go back as far as some of the comment above), it was the case that more could be done on the road while having stop and go people or even just people having common courtesy and giving way to eachother. Now to fill in a pothole, the road has to be shut for a week and a mile of lane closures so that they can put out traffic lights which are in a 'safe place'. I think because some car drivers are so thick, more adjoining traffic from minor roads has had to have traffic lights and so as well as more road works, over longer distances, the light cycles are longer to accommodate every possible eventuality. Similar to above, roadworks vary day by day and to accomodate these fully in a timetable means when there are no road works, the bus runs early or sits around all of the time at timing points.

3. I think before a lot of drivers used to drive more similarly and so the journey time was less variable. Now some drivers would rather pootle along and some are extremely risk averse, others floor it and nearly take off half a dozen wingmirrors. This isn't then helped by some things such as Greenroad where drivers are encouraged to drive safer but because of how the system works, it can flag up wrongly meaning drivers go even slower so as not to get marks against their name (There was a roundabout near Chester, I want to say Deeside Industrial Estate, where the road is on an angle and so when going around the corner, as well as the angle on the roundabout, it would flag up as dangerous driving but it wasn't, it was the angle on the road. I am sure there will be some drivers with some great stories on Greenroad/telematics and how it's wrongly flagged up. Greenroad/telematics I can see the benefits, it just has some flaws.

4. People buy more tickets with the driver compared to many years ago and sadly almost no one is promoting tap on, tap off (or just tap on as it should be).

5. People used to be stood up at the doors waiting to get off, now I have witnessed times where people will wait until a few seconds after the bus doors have opened before they even think about getting off. It all adds to the dwell time, but this dwell time is variable. You can have a few of these people on one trip, and have none the next and so the journey times will be faster. It was the case that if you weren't stood up ready to get off, the driver would drive past the stop as it was likely a kid messing around with the bell. Now in an increasing number of areas, people refuse to stand before the bus has opened it's doors.

6. I can't speak for all areas but I am noticing a rise in dordling drivers as well. Stagecoach Rock Ferry is awful for it. Years ago it was proper bus people who were proud to run a service and be on time. Now people are more worried about organising their night out at the weekend and trying to resolve the worlds. I genuinely think that drivers wait to see the bus outside before they think about going to the toilet and then getting a drink, doing their hair in the mirror, get their belongings from the canteen, then have a chat with the desk on their way out. Before drivers were there, ready and waiting to take over, amongst certain companies for sure, it's just so care free. Kind of 'whatever if I am late, I am not bothered'. Very few people actually trying to run back on time. Interestingly this seems to be more of an issue at big operators and I think that is because it's drilled into every driver, 'there are thousands of reasons for being late but no one to run early' which can essentially translate into 'run as late as you want, pick an excuse out of the book, just don't run early'.

7. It wouldn't be my post without slating bus staff though. Outside of London, from what I have seen, operational staff aren't anywhere near as good at regulating buses. Years ago it was the case of if the bus was too late and another one was nearby behind, you run short, you drop a trip etc. I think there has become more scrutiny on lost mileage and by telling a bus to miss a full/part of a trip, means paperwork and possibly questions asked. If a bus runs endlessly late though, no one seems to ask questions and if they did, you just say traffic or something like that. Regulating buses to put them back on time is seen as a worse option than just letting buses run endlessly late. I have seen a 1 bus, 25 min round trip, half hourly circular and the depot told the bus to run 25 late when instead the bus could have had 5 minutes off and been back on time. That is paperwork though and why fill in paperwork and have higher ups questioning when if it's not noted down on paper (like late running), no one will ever find out the real reasons for whatever has happened.. That's why buses can remain bunched up for so long, no one wants it to happen but the industry has wrongly prioritised heavily late running and buses following eachother, over trying to get buses back on time. Lateness then causes issues with breaks which means more delays later on and it's a snowball effect.

 

[JD2168]

I would say that the low floor buses could also be a reason. You get wheelchairs, pushchairs & more elderly taking time to get on & off. With step entrance you mainly got people walking up & down the stairs, sometimes also you would have a bar in between the stairs which would have one side getting on whilst the other side was getting off.

 

[M803UYA]

I have a few observations. I will say before I start, each point is an individual point and it is my experience, no concrete facts behind it but based off my experiences and conversations that I have had with staff.

1. I would say agree with others that there are more cars but on top of that, the traffic levels are a lot more variable. The exact same driver could do the exact same trip and yet one day do it in 15 minutes, the next day do it in 20, the day after 12. This variable traffic can make it very difficult to timetable buses. Now worse than ever since Covid as Mondays are or were quieter than the rest of the week. Friday commuter traffic would be down but evening peak would start earlier. That kind of variable traffic is very hard to timetable for without different timetables for every day of the week or doing a D&G and take the normal journey time, times it by 17 and that is the timetabled journey time.

Can't work out why, but Tuesday mornings are worst for traffic congestion....

3. I think before a lot of drivers used to drive more similarly and so the journey time was less variable. Now some drivers would rather pootle along and some are extremely risk averse, others floor it and nearly take off half a dozen wingmirrors. This isn't then helped by some things such as Greenroad where drivers are encouraged to drive safer but because of how the system works, it can flag up wrongly meaning drivers go even slower so as not to get marks against their name (There was a roundabout near Chester, I want to say Deeside Industrial Estate, where the road is on an angle and so when going around the corner, as well as the angle on the roundabout, it would flag up as dangerous driving but it wasn't, it was the angle on the road. I am sure there will be some drivers with some great stories on Greenroad/telematics and how it's wrongly flagged up. Greenroad/telematics I can see the benefits, it just has some flaws.

I could fill a book on greenroad - where I work doesn't use it or any form of telematics to monitor the drivers. They're trusted to get on and do their job. Both Greenroad and RiBAS measure the acceleration, braking, and general control of how a vehicle is driven by using a gyroscope fitted in the rear of the vehicle. So if you meet a stupid car driver who brake checks you or flies at you on a country lane at 60mph and you have to stand your bus/coach on it's nose to avoid a collision you'll have a nice red light for your trouble. Or an amber. Those things detract from your 'score' which in some less enlightened organisations leads to a discussion on your continued employment status over a biscuit and a cup of a hot beverage. Of course, said units can be installed incorrectly, become defective and were actually designed for use on American roads. We have very special roads here, which aren't really roads we drive on what's left of them.

There was a disagreement with the Arriva union at Castleford a couple years back over their over zealous use of greenroad - so the drivers were told by the union to stop logging on at the start of trips with their fobs..... Passengers became used to the beep beep beep beep beep sound off the unit

5. People used to be stood up at the doors waiting to get off, now I have witnessed times where people will wait until a few seconds after the bus doors have opened before they even think about getting off. It all adds to the dwell time, but this dwell time is variable. You can have a few of these people on one trip, and have none the next and so the journey times will be faster. It was the case that if you weren't stood up ready to get off, the driver would drive past the stop as it was likely a kid messing around with the bell. Now in an increasing number of areas, people refuse to stand before the bus has opened it's doors.

If you hit the bell, presumably you're getting off the bus. If I can't see that in the rear view mirror, then someone's obviously not getting off the bus and I'm shutting the doors and going. The office can fix the problem of the complaining customer. I have a timetable to sort of keep.

6. I can't speak for all areas but I am noticing a rise in dordling drivers as well. Stagecoach Rock Ferry is awful for it. Years ago it was proper bus people who were proud to run a service and be on time. Now people are more worried about organising their night out at the weekend and trying to resolve the worlds. I genuinely think that drivers wait to see the bus outside before they think about going to the toilet and then getting a drink, doing their hair in the mirror, get their belongings from the canteen, then have a chat with the desk on their way out. Before drivers were there, ready and waiting to take over, amongst certain companies for sure, it's just so care free. Kind of 'whatever if I am late, I am not bothered'. Very few people actually trying to run back on time. Interestingly this seems to be more of an issue at big operators and I think that is because it's drilled into every driver, 'there are thousands of reasons for being late but no one to run early' which can essentially translate into 'run as late as you want, pick an excuse out of the book, just don't run early'.

This is one side effect of the cumulative stand time approach Stagecoach and others practice. If you're regarding the stand time as break time which doesn't count towards the driving time then naturally the union will tell the driver(s) to treat it as such. Either the driver is at work, or they're not at work. Stagecoach generally wants drivers to drive to the maximum time as that is more efficient for them and they require fewer of them. This returns 'the problem' of a new timetable that doesn't work back to the people that created it. If the people who can't plan the timetables can't do it properly, why is that our problem? I've seen this mindset play to the extreme at one Stagecoach depot when in 2009, they received 15 brand new Scania/Enviro 400s for the relaunch of their interurban service which happened to be my daily commute to work.

There was an uplift in frequency overall. However in their rush to introduce and in a massive neglection of a number of small details the timetable didn't work on day 1, and it fell down completely during the school holidays when some temporary roadworks appeared. This resulted in bunching on a 20 minute service, pulling of trips and sending them back to the start point out of service past the waiting passengers. The drivers also helped by insisting they took their 'break time' in full view of the waiting passengers even if they'd come in late. The company managed to trace the pulling of one hourly journey out of one end of the route (the same hourly interval) to a specific controller on duty at the time. Other drivers just cracked on with it, kept going and would make up their lost time. Suffice to say, after 2 years and the timetable being made optimal for everyone, the expected growth didn't take place - two of the batch of fifteen were removed to another depot to provide the additional pair of buses to uplift their interurban route from a 20 minute interval to 15 minutes.

As someone that also drives PCVs I can attest that if you're up to 5 minutes late, you'll find opportunities to get that back and return to being on time. Anything over that, just keep going as you're not recovering the situation and frankly it's not your problem - just get the customers where they need to go and fix the problem with the traffic office at the end of the trip. I find the easiest way to run a timetable was to leave 1/2 minutes late and then I'd not have to wait time at stops - I'd be picking up all the way in.

7. It wouldn't be my post without slating bus staff though. Outside of London, from what I have seen, operational staff aren't anywhere near as good at regulating buses. Years ago it was the case of if the bus was too late and another one was nearby behind, you run short, you drop a trip etc. I think there has become more scrutiny on lost mileage and by telling a bus to miss a full/part of a trip, means paperwork and possibly questions asked. If a bus runs endlessly late though, no one seems to ask questions and if they did, you just say traffic or something like that. Regulating buses to put them back on time is seen as a worse option than just letting buses run endlessly late. I have seen a 1 bus, 25 min round trip, half hourly circular and the depot told the bus to run 25 late when instead the bus could have had 5 minutes off and been back on time. That is paperwork though and why fill in paperwork and have higher ups questioning when if it's not noted down on paper (like late running), no one will ever find out the real reasons for whatever has happened.. That's why buses can remain bunched up for so long, no one wants it to happen but the industry has wrongly prioritised heavily late running and buses following eachother, over trying to get buses back on time. Lateness then causes issues with breaks which means more delays later on and it's a snowball effect.

I've mentioned before that Stagecoach controllers have to stipulate reasons for non operation of services and that it is tracked, discussed at monthly management meetings with those who head the company. Lost mileage is accounted for and drivers don't have permission to lose journeys - it must be given by controllers who answer to management, who answer to the directors. Management who lose excessive levels of service don't stay in charge of depots long, they're removed. I'll leave to your imagination what removal means - it can involve the issuing of a P45 document to the employee concerned and perhaps some money paid in lieu of a notice period.

I've also seen the forms controllers have to complete whenever journeys aren't operated. If one part of Stagecoach uses the system, it'll be universal throughout the group. They're a little OCD on order and structure.

 

[ChrisC]

I've mentioned before that Stagecoach controllers have to stipulate reasons for non operation of services and that it is tracked, discussed at monthly management meetings with those who head the company. Lost mileage is accounted for and drivers don't have permission to lose journeys - it must be given by controllers who answer to management, who answer to the directors. Management who lose excessive levels of service don't stay in charge of depots long, they're removed. I'll leave to your imagination what removal means - it can involve the issuing of a P45 document to the employee concerned and perhaps some money paid in lieu of a notice period.

I've also seen the forms controllers have to complete whenever journeys aren't operated. If one part of Stagecoach uses the system, it'll be universal throughout the group. They're a little OCD on order and structure.

In addition to non operation of services is regular late running on routes also discussed and monitored at these management meeting?

My local bus route is operated by Stagecoach and is heavily subsidised by the local authority. It is a long roundabout route serving many villages with a large city at one end of the route and a large busy urban area at the other. The buses along this route run to an hourly timetable throughout the day, with no peak extras and no buses in the evenings. For most of the day, including during the morning peak, the buses run mostly to time. They can even be a few minutes early along the more rural parts of the route in the middle of the day. Then from around 3pm the delays begin and the buses get later and later until sometimes they can be running in excess of 30 minutes late.

A large part of the problem is that from mid afternoon the buses begin to get delayed by heavy traffic. This is them compounded by the very tight turn round at both ends of the route - just 6 minutes at the city end and only 2 minutes at the other end. There is a stop at a bus station part way along the route of around 5 minutes where a change of driver often takes place. Buses are regularly arriving at both ends of the route 20-30 minutes after they should have departed and therefore starting their next journey very late. This just gets worse to the point where by 5pm buses can be running 45+ minutes late. No matter how late the bus becomes it still keeps running even if it is running less than 15 minutes before the next hourly bus. I can’t see any point in that when the next bus may also be excessively late. On days when buses are in excess of 30 minutes late would it be better just to miss out one bus and the next buses drop back to the timings for the following hour.

No allowance has been made over the years in the timetable for increased traffic with the buses running to timetables that have not changed for years. Also during the last 20 years there have been 3 short diversions off the main road from the original route to serve parts of villages, housing estates and a superstore. This has added to the delays and reduced the turn around time at each end of the route.

 

[M803UYA]

In addition to non operation of services is regular late running on routes also discussed and monitored at these management meeting?

I haven't sat in one, so can't answer. I've heard the raised voices through walls, though! They weren't very thick walls.

Turning the question around - would regular late running on a service create an issue where a following journey was unable to operate because the bus operating it's previous trip wasn't there in time to operate the journey. In some way, the response to this would answer your question unless you intended it to be rhetorical?

Monthly review meetings for the depot would be attended by the Depot Manager, their assistant manager, the Engineering Manager and by all the directors of the company (Managing/Engineering/Operations/Commercial) - should say the commercial director be unavailable the Commercial Manager might stand in. One can reasonably assume from the 3/4 in the room that they'd each have areas to discuss?

 

[ChrisC]

Turning the question around - would regular late running on a service create an issue where a following journey was unable to operate because the bus operating it's previous trip wasn't there in time to operate the journey. In some way, the response to this would answer your question unless you intended it to be rhetorical?

It's the same 4 buses which usually stay on the one route all day. If there is a serious delay earlier in the day another bus is sometimes substituted onto the route and the original late running bus taken off. However, this very rarely happens later in the day, which means that from mid afternoon onwards buses can get later and later until early evening when they return to the depot. Its the last 4 round trips of the day which are regularly seriously late running because they don't arrive into the bus station from the outward journey until well after departure time.

 

[WibbleWobble]

From personal experience, there is a greater degree of disruption because there's a much higher number of utility works taking place.

Much of the infrastructure is creaking - the gas distributor is replacing large amounts of gas mains, and there's been a number of leaks which have seen large sections of pipes needing to be replaced. Likewise, water mains are bursting (one week saw four bursts in a small area).

Then there's the ongoing fibre broadband installation, which seems like is seeing every conceivable place being dug up whenever possible - naturally, this is something that is a fairly new phenomenon. And as there's competition in this market (Openreach vs other parties like City Fibre), I expect infrastructure to be installed multiple times!

It also seems like the number of private vehicles has increased, especially since Covid - people are being required back into offices in larger numbers, plus I reckon there's more parents taking those children to school who would have previously taken the bus (or walked for that matter!).

 

[M803UYA]

It's the same 4 buses which usually stay on the one route all day. If there is a serious delay earlier in the day another bus is sometimes substituted onto the route and the original late running bus taken off. However, this very rarely happens later in the day, which means that from mid afternoon onwards buses can get later and later until early evening when they return to the depot. Its the last 4 round trips of the day which are regularly seriously late running because they don't arrive into the bus station from the outward journey until well after departure time.

Under this scenario then, there'll be lots of paperwork relating to non operation of journeys on a subsidised contract with possible penalty charges associating for the non operational (or late running - traffic commissioner cuts off a late running trip at a certain point and regards it as non operational) standard of the contract.

This would be backed up by tracking information and all of those issues would be visible - both to the company and to the council tendering the service. Alongside this there'd be customer complaints received for the late/non operating journeys. This is something else a Stagecoach depot is measured on - level of customer complaints. Someone will want to know why the customers are more unhappy than before....

 

[RT4038]

Under this scenario then, there'll be lots of paperwork relating to non operation of journeys on a subsidised contract with possible penalty charges associating for the non operational (or late running - traffic commissioner cuts off a late running trip at a certain point and regards it as non operational) standard of the contract.

This would be backed up by tracking information and all of those issues would be visible - both to the company and to the council tendering the service. Alongside this there'd be customer complaints received for the late/non operating journeys. This is something else a Stagecoach depot is measured on - level of customer complaints. Someone will want to know why the customers are more unhappy than before....

I think you are making some pretty heroic assumptions that anybody is actually looking at all this information (bus companies, transport authorities and traffic commissioners administrative staff are quite thin on the ground nowadays) and that passengers are actually complaining to bus companies and these are getting through central customer care unit bland replies.........

 

[M803UYA]

I think you are making some pretty heroic assumptions that anybody is actually looking at all this information (bus companies, transport authorities and traffic commissioners administrative staff are quite thin on the ground nowadays) and that passengers are actually complaining to bus companies and these are getting through central customer care unit bland replies.........

We can but hope can't we?

 

[route101]

I find with some services I use from bus stations for example, they load the bus with passengers at the time the bus is due to depart!

 

[Geordie driver]

I find with some services I use from bus stations for example, they load the bus with passengers at the time the bus is due to depart!

Possibly a break requirement or not getting paid, I know Arriva thought we could load a full bus in zero seconds.

I liked to provide a good service, but my time is not for free.

Or possibly a lazy driver who wants to run late and no supervision to keep check.

All part of the cut every corner bus experience that makes our services the envy of the world.

Arrivas Facebook page is a right laugh, numerous complaints with the reply " we are sorry to hear this and this is not the standard we expect" time and again.

They aren't sorry, they are already aware and it is exactly the standard they expect, they choose this.

There is no slack in the system, spare drivers none existent or no where near enough for when problems arise, buses that really shouldn't be out sent out day after day knowing full well they are going to break down.

 

[Statto]

Bus reliability is not helped by traffic lights, particularly in Town & City Centres where there are traffic lights at every junction, & the lights are on red for an age. Sometimes buses end up waiting for 2 or more cycles to get through the lights.

Then add in notorious bottlenecks en route. Old Swan in Liverpool can be bad that going on the direct route between Green Lane & Queens Drive can take 15 minutes, then other times (like an hour later) it can take less than 5 minutes.