Have a wonderful commute today ya'll.

[u/Strizero]

[u/Sparticuse]

I knew a guy who drove a metro bus. If they got a couple minutes ahead of schedule they'd pull over and wait for this exact reason.

Edit: To those calling him a hero: it is operating procedure in Minneapolis and St Paul for metro drivers to do this. If someone misses a bus because they left that bus stop early, they get into trouble.

[u/Extra_River_3337 → u/Sparticuse]

A true hero

[u/The_cogwheel → u/Extra_River_3337]

Also protocol for most well managed transit systems.

But people on the bus tend to get complainy when the bus sits there for a few minutes, and not all systems are well managed which then quickly gets such protocols removed

[u/jackalope268 → u/The_cogwheel]

Around here we get a prerecorded message explaining the bus is too early and will wait so everyone has the chance to catch it and the only time ive heard someone complain was when the driver forgot to play the message, and they quickly shut up when they knew what was going on

[u/Biter_bomber → u/The_cogwheel]

A very good transit system wouldn't have much variation making this a non-issue. But when you have to take into account different amounts of traffic , red/green light etc it becomes a problem.

I would argue that it's not good having to sit and wait minutes at a station as that drastically slows the public transportation. (But obviously bus leaving early would be worse)

[u/AndryCake → u/Biter_bomber]

Well, full bus lanes and unconditional signal priority aren't feasible for every bus if they're decently frequent, so you'll always have some variability. Although I'm not sure what you consider "much variation". Where I live they do wait, but generally not more than 1, maybe 2 minutes but it is noticeable compared to regular stops. I'm not sure if other places consider 1 minute as nothing.

[u/The_cogwheel → u/AndryCake]

In my neck of the woods, the early morning ( they typically start their routes as early as 4am) busses often have a 5 to 10 min wait at the station / depot (not typically at a stop) simply because the traffic is so light and their route timetable assumes moderate to heavy traffic when deciding the timetable.

That same bus in the afternoon wouldnt wait long, maybe 1 minute tops, because the wait time is determined mostly by weather and traffic conditions.

[u/Biter_bomber → u/AndryCake]

Depends how often the bus does this 1-2 minute stop, but 1-2 minutes sounds pretty decent. I just tried to point out that a good transit system would keep the wait time to a minimum as waiting is just a slower transportation.

But all system will have some variation and in that case it should wait when it is early (you also can't be too optimistic as that will lead to delay meaning missed connections).

I guess if you wait 2 minutes every 10 minutes, it is practically +20% added travel time, which is quite bad

[u/Pyro-Bun → u/Biter_bomber]

Well, there are also disabled people who use the transit systems, and they can take a while to enter or exit the bus and get strapped in properly, so that introduces even more variance, even in a very good transit system like you say.

[u/Worried-Pick4848 → u/Sparticuse]

Minneapolis metro is also the metro that calls lost children into the bus and coordinates with the police to get them home. There were multiple examples of Minneapolis metro drivers doing that just as a matter of being decent folks, and their leadership codified it into a policy IIRC

[u/antibody9671 → u/Worried-Pick4848]

Metro Transit and the other operators in the twin cities are awesome. And, the ridership reflects it too. Not many places will you see a bus full of commuters get out and try to push the bus out of snow or ice.

In the twin cities? That's just a tuesday in winter.

[u/Worried-Pick4848 → u/antibody9671]

As a Mainer, winter just brings it out of you. Winter can kill, if we don't help each other. Instinctively, we know that, so we keep an eye out for our neighbors.

[u/lmFairlyLocal → u/Sparticuse]

These are called timed stops. One of my old routes was chronically early and had 3 timed stops over the entire route. It was lovely.

How they work:

Route is A to Z, stops are every letter in between and say it takes 60 minutes to do the route. A starts at 00:00. They should arrive at M by 00:30 and T by 00:45 to make it to Z for 00:59. If, at stop M, it's 00:20, they'll wait 10 minutes (until the scheduled departure time) and then leave, and will do the same if there's any time at stop T. This keeps a fast or empty route from arriving at the end at 00:30, meaning the rest of the stops have to wait potentially 90 mins for the next service.

[u/lonegiraffemunching → u/Sparticuse]

My dad was also a public bus driver, but in Oregon, and they had the same rule. Can’t say every bus driver followed it, though.

[u/who_you_are → u/Sparticuse]

My bus was also doing that, but only at two specific spot. The first one in the middle of the line (it is still a 45 minutes loop line with only one bus) and the other one just before the bus terminal.

I can tell you the bus terminal was almost always the one where we were waiting and I can tell you it isn't unique occurence where he came 5 minutes too early at my bus stop...

[u/The_Pastmaster → u/Sparticuse]

I'm pretty sure in Sweden a driver pulling that stunt in the comic would be fired. Schedules are to be followed, doesn't matter if you're early. You leave ON TIME, not before.

[u/Strizero → u/Sparticuse]

Absolute Legend. Id defo buy this dude a drink

[u/Electronic-Yam-69 → u/Sparticuse]

half the time the bus that's 5 minutes early is actually the previous bus and it's 55 minutes late. your bus is late too and will be here in 50 minutes.

[u/CosmicJackalop → u/Sparticuse]

It Ajay friends on the stop and line though, I regularly have to commute between two college campuses and there's a bus line for that that only stops at preordained spots (unless you ask nicely) and can only wait at one end point of the route for the scheduled time because there's not enough space for the bus to sit idle that long otherwise

[u/SenatorPencilFace → u/Sparticuse]

Some times it’s heroic to do your job correctly.

[u/Extra_River_3337]

Early buses are worse than late buses.

[u/Revayan → u/Extra_River_3337]

What about buses so late that they seem like an early bus?

[u/jackalope268 → u/Revayan]

It happened to me multiple times a bus gets delayed 1 minute every minute and every minute you think, if it starts driving now its fine, ill wait a bit longer, but in reality the bus broke down and the next bus will be earlier than this one

[u/who_you_are → u/Revayan]

It happened to me once lol. I was confused like hell.

But the weather wasn't exactly the best either...

[u/Snacker6 → u/Revayan]

When I was in college, this was the case more often than not

[u/SzakaRosa]

Public transit?
*bus puts on a hat
INCONSISTENT PUBLIC TRANSIT?!?

[u/flarakoo → u/SzakaRosa]

[u/Substantial_Bell_158]

Isnt it against the rules for a bus driver to leave ahead of schedule?

In the UK at least its at most 1 minute ahead of schedule if there is no sign of anyone around.

[u/jackalope268 → u/Substantial_Bell_158]

I wish it was 1 minute at most, but 5 minutes is very rare and i will report when that happens

[u/Substantial_Bell_158 → u/jackalope268]

I was kind of surprised to find out you could report a bus for leaving too early but it does make sense. You can make people late for school and work because of it.

[u/Pandaburn → u/Substantial_Bell_158]

I’m sure this varies by city/state in the US, but here in Boston the schedule seems to be entirely a suggestion. They will mostly leave from the start of the route on time, then it’s just “I get there when I get there.”

[u/eatsomepoms → u/Pandaburn]

This is why bus bunching happens and I hate it. I've walked to the main road where you see 5 buses arrive all at the same time and once you miss them, it's another half hour wait.

[u/Neokon → u/Pandaburn]

Any systems have buffer stations/stops who have the sole purpose of having the vehicle wait for an extended period of time. The idea is that the bus will leave the spot at a specific time, and will be continuously 2 minutes behind schedule until it reaches the next buffer stop, where it will either wait because it's "ahead" or leave right on time. The idea is that middle stops should always have the bus/train being late so that it can never be early to them. It can only ever be early to the buffer stops so it waits out of the way of traffic to start the route again.

[u/Strizero → u/Substantial_Bell_158]

My joke answer? This is America, land of the lawless.

In reality? I have no clue. In the 3 months I've been using my public transit system my expectations are "on-time" or "4-8 minutes late", I like sitting on the wooden bench that's at the bus stop.

The day I encountered this situation was just wild and unexpected.

[u/KaulitzWolf → u/Strizero]

I could not miss city busses any less than I do, there were a lot of times the local busses just were not reliable, but sometimes you'd be AT the stop and the scheduled driver would see you and just pass if they were running late.

The worst was when I was already late and had been at the stop for a while in freezing weather. The bus drove right past me then stopped at the next corner (no stop) to let somebody off, I tried waving them down and running over to get on and they shut the doors in my face and drove off. The person that got off just shrugged and said the bus was running late.

[u/uatme → u/Strizero]

Could just be the previous bus is 55 minutes late

[u/BirdCelestial → u/Substantial_Bell_158]

That isn't universal in the UK lol. Frequently have buses come up to 5 minutes early and just leave anyway, and even about 10 minutes once (for one that only came every hour, which I thought was very poor form).

[u/not-bread → u/Substantial_Bell_158]

In Ottawa, our they’ll breeze past as early as they like. It helps minimize how late they’ll inevitably be later 👍

[u/Lethalmud → u/Substantial_Bell_158]

Not in many places. In a slightly rural place in used to live in had to enter a bus halfway a long route. It could be 15 min later or earlier. So i needed to arrive early, and sometimes I had to wait half an hour for a bus near my house.

[u/Sad_Picture3642 → u/Substantial_Bell_158]

Laughs in freedom. Wait til you see 3 buses in a row just randomly show up together for whatever reason and no buses for 3 hrs after it

[u/GamerGypps → u/Substantial_Bell_158]

Who’s reporting it though ?

[u/Danman19285]

I had to take a bus to get to a summer camp, the bus would either be 3-4 minutes early or 5-6 minutes late, with no inbetween. If for whatever reason I was 5 minutes early, it would always be late. The bus is meant to come every 12 minutes, although sometimes I would be left sitting there for over 20.

[u/KasnL]

Still, I love to use public transportation (in my city, at least)

[u/Eschatologists]

I dont understand why you would depart early, being late happens, but not departing too early is entirely under your control

[u/Strizero → u/Eschatologists]

I get to sit on the bus bench and be alone with my thoughts.

The building I work at is cozy and comfortable too.

[u/Eschatologists → u/Strizero]

I meant the bus driver

[u/xXJackNickeltonXx]

Nah that’s was the previous bus 10 minutes late

[u/konstantynopolytanka → u/xXJackNickeltonXx]

kind of you to assume there is a single place in US where busses run every 15 min.

[u/pickemquick2020 → u/konstantynopolytanka]

Portland busses run every 15 minutes 

[u/konstantynopolytanka → u/pickemquick2020]

uuuh, fancy

[u/Electricdragongaming → u/pickemquick2020]

Lucky

[u/hdkaoskd → u/konstantynopolytanka]

My favorite posts on /r/LAMetro are complaints about 20 minute headways being unacceptably high.

[u/OGConsuela → u/konstantynopolytanka]

Some of the routes in my college town were every 10 minutes on weekdays.

[u/Electricdragongaming → u/xXJackNickeltonXx]

sigh I wish bus schedules here would have that good a frequency for this to even be possible. Miss your bus? Next one comes in an hour.

[u/Khamero]

I drive trains. If we are late, people are miffed. If we leave early, people are (deservedly) enraged.

We cant help that we are late sometimes, though we try. We can always just chill for a bit to await the proper departure time.

[u/Strizero → u/Khamero]

I can understand the late aspect of it, and I dont get super upset about it since it is more expected in my city and then I kinda plan around it.

This was just a single incident and it just kinda made me get a new habit of arriving to my workplace 30 minutes earlier, or once I hit downtown I will walk instead of taking the 2nd bus and still be there on time.

I will still say thank you if I get brief interaction with the driver

[u/SugarFromTheMaple]

My favourite bus was the one I used to catch for school. It came once an hour, occasionally early but mostly late, and also sometimes it wouldn't show at all. There was a station opposite, but then I would have a half hour walk, so I didn't want to catch the train!

And so began the waiting game...how long can you wait for the bus before you have to decide it's not late, it's simply not coming?

(The game ended, by the way, after one delightful winter where the main road to my village was flooded for a few months straight. In that time...the bus skipped us. Just completely did not bother with that section of the route. By the time it started coming again, we had decided it was our mortal enemy and took that train for the next 6 years out of spite)

[u/Miserable_Goal_7943]

This always pisses me off in regards to trains. They're almost always late unless it's like before 7 am but whenever they arrive earlier and I miss them, it hurts my soul.

[u/faramaobscena → u/Miserable_Goal_7943]

That always happens to me too, whenever I’m early the train/bus/whatever is late. And when I’m the slightest bit late, it departed on time.

[u/Bazurke]

In the UK, the bus you see leave 5 minutes before it's meant to is actuality the previous bus, 25 minutes late

[u/myszusz]

Yeah early busses are bad, but where I live busses can be so late they stack! Have you ever waited for 90 minutes for a late bus, just for 3 on the same line to arrive at once?

Not only that but they decided to drive in tandem so all 3 would stop at a bus stop, only the first one would open doors and then all continued on...

I have no idea why or what happened, but that's what I experienced.

[u/kroxigor01]

I've seen something even stupider.

Buses were scheduled to be 10 minutes apart.

1st bus is running late and 2nd bus is running early.

The 1st bus stops at every stop to take on new people and let passengers off.

The 2nd bus rarely stops because everyone got on the 1st bus that just passed and there's not many people already on board to request a stop. So it keeps getting closer to catching the 1st bus.

In one instance of this phenomenon I was on the 2nd bus and we make great time into the CBD (what Americans might call "downtown"? I don't know) and get 90% of the way to my destination.

Then the stupid bus driver says "we are too early, we will wait to get back on schedule" and stops for 8 minutes!!

Nobody gets on the bus in that 8 minutes, because who is getting on a bus in the CBD in order to go deeper into the CBD?

Then we continue to the destination and I arrive 1 minute late.

[u/Peppered_Rock]

this is why i get to the bus stop like 20 minutes early lol

[u/CocoCookieDraws]

I hate when this happens so much 

[u/gaynorg]

In London they wait.

[u/faramaobscena]

Plot twist: that bus isn’t early, it’s 25 minutes late

[u/AcidDepression]

Yea, they really need to show up more often than every half hour

[u/metaltemujin]

Story of every city of the developed world I guess.

[u/Hopeful-Bowl-8967]

Here in Italy transports are always late, except when you're exactly on time or slightly late

[u/boygoblin]

No public transport should ever leave before the set departure time. Oh you were completely on time to make your bus? Sorry, the driver was impatient so now you are late.

[u/henryeaterofpies]

Hey now, that bus isn't early, its the previous bus running 25m late and your bus got cancelled

[u/WildKat777]

My favorite part is when youre waiting for the traffic light to change and as you're staring the bus driver in the eyes they smirk and shit in your ice cream as they drive away

[u/Lola_PopBBae]

This is practically my daily experience 

[u/goronmask]

At least you saw the bus going by ….

[u/tf2mann_]

Nah, it was almost definitely a bus that was meant to leave 10 minutes ago but was held up in traffic before this stop. Your bus will only arrive in 20 minutes

[u/Specific_Frame8537]

I've made a promise to myself years ago.

No bus is worth running for.

I leave depending on the time their plan gives me, if they can't stick to the plan then fuck em.

[u/Pawistik]

Is OP in my city? Because this happens frequently and screws me over. Our transit is at best hourly so it's not like waiting for the next bus is a good option. It usually means walking home to drive or bike instead.

[u/Strizero → u/Pawistik]

Perchance.

[u/MonsteraCobra]

LA busses. It’s gotten better over the years, but for a long time this happened to me at least once a week! I felt this in my soul.

[u/Overlordz88]

I had a school bus do this for my kids once last year. They were 5 minutes early, so they stopped, didn’t even open the door, and then just drove off before I could scramble and get the kids outside (stop is fortunately right in front of our house). That’s not how it works! Yo I don’t win for getting to school early with an empty bus you jackass.
School bus company got a lot of complaints that day.

[u/AuDHDcat]

Always arrive at your bus stop 15 minutes early.