Traffic chaos fear at bus stops
Wednesday 28th January 2009, 11:29AM GMT.
New kerbs at bus shelters in Wolverhampton are causing traffic hold-ups because buses cannot pull in, it was claimed today.
Kerbs in front of two shelters in Waterloo Road have been extended four feet out into the road, with council chiefs blaming cars parked near or in bus bays for the decision.
But commuters have said the move just means cars are being forced to queue behind buses while they let passengers on and off.
Retired engineer Ken Handley, aged 66, said he thought the new kerbs would cause tailbacks.
The father-of-one of Elton Close, Fordhouses, said: “It is just going to increase traffic congestion. If the buses were having trouble pulling in, then they should have just stopped the cars parking so close to the bus stop. Now it just means that cars will have to sit behind a bus and wait while everyone gets on and off.”
Wolverhampton City Council spokesman Tim Clark said: “The kerbs have been extended because of problems with the amount of cars parking in the bus spaces which meant services were having to manoeuvre between parked vehicles.
“This was not considered safe for passengers and this prevents any dangers.”
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its about time someone thought about the buses and its passengers, let the ‘mad motorists’ wait behind, good decision this!
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This is an appalling decision and a classic case of fix the symptom not the cause. What is the purpose of double-yellow lines and traffic wardens?!!!
What next? Get rid of the double yellow lines in the city centre and just make the pavements bigger so no one can attempt to illegally park there!!
I dread to even try and calculate the longterm cost this will have on business due to traffic delays, and also the danger of people now trying to overtake the bus as it is causing major tailbacks!!
Incredibly heavy handed and short-sighted, but what do you expect from a council which is so out of touch with reality.
Again – FIX THE CAUSE OF THE PROBLEM!! Thats why you employ traffic enforcement officers!
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I can’t see what the problem is, hardly any bus stops are set back to allow the bus to pull in, so people have to wait then for passengers to get on and off. If this annoys you, then use a alternative way avoiding bus routes.
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How long does a bus spend at a bus stop? 20-25 seconds tops! Why don’t the motorists set out 1 minute earlier.
These people deserve the opportunity to park in the vicinity of their home. They have no off road parking.
How many people reading this thread have no off road parking and double yellow lines stopping them park right outside their property? Go on, list the road names! And those of you that do, how inconvenient do you find it? I bet it’s more inconvenient than the people that will now have to get out of bed 60 seconds earlier!!!
Well done to the council for taking the logical decision, not the uncaring decision!
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A similar situation has been created on Thompson Avenue with the pavement extended out into the road just before a bus stop. This means that buses would have to manoeuvre to pull in correctly to allow following traffic to pass.
Naturally the bus drivers just stop in the road and block all following traffic.
But the council added a double whammy by placing a speed camera on the extended pavement part.
Nice one Wolves council.
NOT !!
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I wonder how many of the people moaning about the buses holding them up actually allow buses to pull out of lay-bys when they are signalling to pull off (as is required by the Highway Code).
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Dave: Not all motorists are “mad”. I could say the same about bus passengers but I don’t. So, think before you print please!
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Clear flowing traffic is a benefit to everyone. Buses and cars, the city and the economy generally.
The correct solution is to police and enforce the idiots that park in the bus bays.
This is the wrong solution….yet again.
As Mark says – fix the symptom not the cause.
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It is against the law for people to park on a “marked” bus stop and in doing so, they should expect and accept the wrath of a Traffic Warden.
It is not against the law to park near a bus stop and it would be wrong to slap down a load of double yellow lines which would inconvenience the residents more than the motorists.
By not allowing the buses to pull in means that they are not faced with a fight when trying to pull out as many motorists don’t allow them that courtesy. I am pleased to see these cleaver little efforts being made to make the buses lives easier, to speed up their journeys and as a result, make the public transport system a more attractice proposition for potential users. So weel done Wolves council for that!
I notice that nobody yet has come forward in response to my earlier post regarding properties that dont have offroad parking but do have double yellow lines meaning that the residents don’t have the luxury of parking in the vicinity of their properties.
Come on, folks, tell us the streets that you live on and how it affects you!
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If it wasn’t for us mad motorists in our cars the government would not have cash for you lot to ride around in the filthy stinking smoke machines you locally refer to as the BUZZ…!!
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WM travel have been doing this for a few years around the midlands. I suspect because once in the stop buses have trouble getting back out again. Maybe if they didn’t drive like ar$e$ the rest of the time car drivers would let them.
Hairy-palmed 20-25 seconds your having a laugh!
By the time the jobs worth driver has messed about there’s half a mile of traffic behind him.(wrong pass, no change, wrong shoes!)
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Hairy palmed Evans – what is it exactly that you want us to comment on?
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Yet another barmy idea from the inept Councillors representing Wolverhampton – they just cannot stop making blunders can they???
Did anyone think of actually taking the footpath BACK 4 feet and creating a bus layby? _ oh sorry that is not the current thinking is it!
Never mind, anything to keep the Councillors happy!
Next item on the agenda – the Mander Centre multi-storey car park will become a nature reserve with wildebeeste, lions and other exotic animals!!!
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Well said Anne T Busman, most bus drivers are ignorant, they don’t pull in when they can anyway, they don’t indicate in or out, I’ve seen them on mobile phones, if they were more polite by thanking people that do let them out and more courteous with their indicators to let drivers behind them know that they are pulling in or out perhaps the mad motorists wouldn’t get so mad and people wouldn’t mind letting them out. As per the 20-25 seconds that a bus stops that’s complete rubbish it normally a good couple of minutes per stop so times that by the amount of stops per route and you’d have to add a lot longer than a minute onto your journey. The big problem with the old red route was that it caused masses of tailbacks because you couldn’t use the bus lanes and now buses are getting in the way again. I could go on…..
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Hydelidian, you refer to bus users as “you lot”, bit rude isn’t it?
I am not a bus user, as I could not currently use public transport to get to and from work. I wish that there was a service in place so that I could but there isn’t.
I have not suggested, stated or infered that motorists are “mad” they were your words not mine.
Also, I can’t help notice that the modern buses on the road seem to give off very little smoke so clearly there have been vast improvements on that front and I’m sure that more improvement could be made if more people used public transport because this would create more investment.
Anne.T.Busman,
Swings & Roundabouts ‘aint it? Your issue is not with the quality of the driver at all. You just see buses as an obstruction in front of you that you MUST pass at all costs, as do many, but not all other drivers.
And so what if a bus on the very odd occasion takes (lets be really generous) 45 seconds to pull away? In the grand scheme of things this is no great hardship. Do you react with the same animosity when driving along a single carriageway and you encounter a parked car on your side of the road? I doubt it very much.
You remove any kind of credibility from your posting with the exageration, “By the time the jobs worth driver has messed about there’s half a mile of traffic behind him”.
Live and let live. Oh and try leaving the house a little bit earlier!
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I agree with Anne T Busman. Bus drivers don’t draw parallel to the kerb anyway and in a lot of cases they purposely swing out prior to stopping so the back end sticks out and nothing can get past.
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Whilst my comments on here seem very pro public transport, I do have to agree with Dave E that buses dont always stop parallel to the kerb. I’m not certain that this is a deliberate action, but more a problem that occurs with long vehicles. My father is a lorry driver and when he steers to the left, the rear of his truck swings to the right. That is just the nature of the beast, yes it might be a little inconvenient to other road users, but it isn’t the end of the world folks.
I also agree with ANON and his comment that bus drivers somtimes could show more consideration using their indicators effectively but this thread is tarring all bus drivers with the same bus and that is unfair. Like I said before, I am a motorist not a bus user and 80% of the bus drivers I encounter follow the highway code admirably. Perhaps the others are just having a bad day. I have been know to very occasionally forget to switch off my indicator as have most drivers.
ANON, it is unfair to claim, “most bus drivers are ignorant” and you are deluded to believe that a bus spend 2 whole minutes at every stop. Another example of exaggeration (honest, this really is 6 inches, love) from another person who sees buses as the enemy!
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post 10 well said
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This morning while I was on the bus this new system put in place caused great difficulty for an emergency vehicle to get through, these kerbs have just caused a major problem and the traffic has been terrible since they have been put there.
Stopping people parking there would have been the solution not this!!
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they should do away with public transport alltogether if you cant drive ride a bike then walk thats what i say i do not like buses or trains.Think how fit we would all be with all that walking !!
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Well done Wolverhampton! It is about time someone did something for the non-car users in the city specially those who are less abled and find it difficult to walk half way across the road to climb into the bus.
Perhaps if a few more drivers like Mr Hanley used public transport a bit more often there wouldn’t be so many traffic jams or chaos as it is put here. Perhaps a bit of exaggeration eh express and star.
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This idiotic practice has already been introduced in Dudley. One infilled bus stop is a short distance from traffic lights. Bus stops, traffic behind stops, junction locks ups. Of course by increasing congestion like this the councils can then start to ask for road pricing.
I always used to let buses pull out, knowing they’d pull in at the next stop. Since they have brought this in I no longer do that. Reap what you sow.
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Lord Crocker – wish i could afford to use the bus but sorry, I am not a pensioner with a FREE bus pass – I have to pay for everything. Even school children have to pay and they get no income.
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Sorry Ruitonian, i didn’t realise that bus travel was more expensive than driving a car. I thought that seeing as you don’t need to buy the bus, tax or insure it, let alone cover the running costs such as fuel it was comparatively inexpensive. You also don’t even have to learn to drive as the bus already has a driver.
I thought that there are a lot of people in Wolverhampton who don’t have access to a car, you should feel privileged if you do.
Paul – it is a pity there aren’t more public spirited people around like you.
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Luckily, Lord Crocker, I don’t live in Wolverhampton, I just have to drive through it in the mornings. I pass quite a lot of buses in Wolverhampton and think I should keep my comments to myself. However, I have a full car every morning (no pensioners, just full paying bus fares) so yes, it IS cheaper to use a car!!!!!
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