How well do London buses match the timetables?
michalpaszkiewicz.co.uk
How well do London buses match the timetables?
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Re: How well do London buses match the timetables?
#2I wonder whether this is the norm for other cities?
Re: How well do London buses match the timetables?
#3I wonder whether this is the norm for other cities?
At the very least, I would assume most bus time tables are written to reflect the worst case scenario regarding traffic lights. That alone should make the actual average waiting time lower than the theoretical one.
Re: How well do London buses match the timetables?
#4I wonder whether this is the norm for other cities?
At the very least, I would assume most bus time tables are written to reflect the worst case scenario regarding traffic lights. That alone should make the actual average waiting time lower than the theoretical one.
Where I live, buses have a few points where they 'synchronize'. That means they wait there long enough to be exactly on schedule.
This to prevent people missing a bus that goes every hour because it was 5 minutes early.
Re: How well do London buses match the timetables?
#5Earlier quoted context omitted.
At the very least, I would assume most bus time tables are written to reflect the worst case scenario regarding traffic lights. That alone should make the actual average waiting time lower than the theoretical one.
Where I live, buses have a few points where they 'synchronize'. That means they wait there long enough to be exactly on schedule. This to prevent people missing a bus that goes every hour because it was 5 minutes early.
In London, sometimes a bus will be held at a stop for a minute or three by dispatchers to “regulate the service”.
It's annoying when you’re on that bus, but it makes sense to try and avoid services bunching together.
(And occasionally when they do end up bunched together, the overcrowded bus in front will wait briefly so the empty bus behind it can pass)
Re: How well do London buses match the timetables?
#6On trains and planes, my main critieria is that I arrive by the stated arrival time and therefore am pretty unfussed by stories about padding time etc - that's more of a long term structural concern than something that will bother me on the day. I think operators have figured this is all most people really care about over time (perhaps excepting highly competitive routes.)
You lose this ability to check timings with a non-fixed timings, and have to rely on 'oh, it's probably about half an hour from here to here' or google's guess at the real timetabled journey you'll do (which the operator hasn't really promised you at any stage.) People don't seem to mind this too much.
I wonder if part of this is that waiting for a bus is usually less pleasant than being on one in countries where there is often cold/windy/rainy weather. That's something you don't really get with long-distance trains or planes. I'm going to be grumpy if I have to wait in the pouring rain for 15 minutes, even if I still make it to my appointment on time.
Re: How well do London buses match the timetables?
#7Earlier quoted context omitted.
At the very least, I would assume most bus time tables are written to reflect the worst case scenario regarding traffic lights. That alone should make the actual average waiting time lower than the theoretical one.
Where I live, buses have a few points where they 'synchronize'. That means they wait there long enough to be exactly on schedule. This to prevent people missing a bus that goes every hour because it was 5 minutes early.
You definitely don't live in Seattle. Hell will freeze over before busses here are on time, even for a single stop.
Re: How well do London buses match the timetables?
#8I have noticed this paradox when accessing my VPN time based code. More often the time until refresh is >30 seconds than it is <30 seconds (60 seconds between refreshes)
Re: How well do London buses match the timetables?
#9The conclusion of the article seems to be related to the general rule that if, say, a box of nails advertises 1000 nails, the manufacturer will have set the actual average to be higher than 1000 nails so that some large majority of buyers will always have at least 1000 nails in the box. (I seem to recall an A-Level stats question on my exam asking what the average should be, to ensure that 95% of buyers received at least 1000 nails.)
Again the statement on the box is not a statement of reality, but a contract that the buyer should be (almost) guaranteed of getting at least 1000 nails.
If I recall correctly, calorie values on nutrition boxes are the same, at least in the US: a 100 calorie snack bag will have at least 100 calories, because the FDA mandates that the seller should be at minimum providing what it claims.
Re: How well do London buses match the timetables?
#10Earlier quoted context omitted.
Where I live, buses have a few points where they 'synchronize'. That means they wait there long enough to be exactly on schedule. This to prevent people missing a bus that goes every hour because it was 5 minutes early.
In London, sometimes a bus will be held at a stop for a minute or three by dispatchers to “regulate the service”. It's annoying when you’re on that bus, but it makes sense to try and avoid services bunching together. (And occasionally when they do end up bunched together, the overcrowded bus in front will wait briefly so the empty bus behind it can pass)
The "El" (Elevated) trains in Chicago will do the same thing. Sometimes you simply stop between stations. Sometimes, it is only 25 ft before a station and you can see your goal in sight.