Very detailed analysis.

I agree with the claim that "fewer stops, faster service" on the surface.

However we'd have to see if that's truly the case, as cities have red lights and traffic, so the bus stops anyway ... I believe, taking this into account, the difference might not be that significant.

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rsynnott 3 hours ago | parent | next [-]

There are simulators for this, and of course there's data from places that have actually done it.

In Dublin we have a bit of a mixture of newish bus routes which largely have a sensible number of stops, and ancient routes (the oldest evolved out of tram routes laid out in the 1870s), which tend to have a stupidly high number of stops, because once you put one in it's very contentious to remove it. The super-regular stop routes are _so slow_.

	▲	moralestapia 39 minutes ago \| parent [-]
		In my city there are, so called, express buses, but I haven't seen that anywhere else.

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estebank an hour ago | parent | prev | next [-]

The difference between the SF 38 and the 38R which stops 1/3rd as much is 1/4th of the travel time in <5 miles.

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piinbinary 5 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

That's an interesting point.

I'm also curious how bus stops interact with timed lights. Presumably each time the bus stops, it gets kicked back to the next cycle of green lights (which might be a low-single-digit minute delay).

Hopefully there's a traffic engineer in the audience who can give the real answers.

	▲	johannes1234321 4 hours ago \| parent [-]
		The way it is done her ein my European city is that the bus stop is move behind the traffic lights. The bus and the system are in radio contact, thus the position is known. The time the bus needs from current location to the traffic lights on green light can be predicted, thus the system can calculate whether to keep the green light till the bus arrives or turn red, let the crossing traffic go and then turn green for the bus again. The less predictable time of passenger getting off and on (takes time when crowded, wheelchair takes time, but can be fast when nobody requires that stop) is behind the traffic lights, thus doesn't have to go into the calculation. Of course this has limits on density of traffic lights and traffic isn't fully predictable either, but overall this works quite well, giving busses mostly a green wave.

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mschuster91 5 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

> However we'd have to see if that's truly the case, as cities have red lights and traffic, so the bus stops anyway.

Two problems - for one, riders entering and exiting takes time, especially if the public transit scheme says you can only enter at the front and have to show/buy tickets at the driver, and the other problem is that in most areas, buses cannot request a green light, so with a loop time of 1-2 minutes (quite common in German cities on busy roads) you may easily lose 2-3 minutes in the worst case just from a mismatch of departure with the light being green.

And over the course of a few stops, that lost time can add up quickly.

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kshacker 5 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Imagine stopping at the bus stop and then immediately stopping at red light

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IAmBroom 5 hours ago | parent [-]

I'm guessing you don't live in a city. They plan bus stops at lights, so that doesn't really happen - just sometimes there's an extra-long bus pause for mount/dismount.

	▲	kshacker 39 minutes ago \| parent [-]
		Yes I am not a bus passenger. I have used buses in some US cities over a decade back, and from those rare trips my memories are not aligned with yours. Alright ...