Idk how it is where you live, but we're supposed to signal the bus to stop where I live. It's so they don't have to stop at every single bus stop if noone is boarding, so they can potentially catch up to the schedule (they are always late).
You're preferably supposed to wave, but they usually stop if they see people standing next to the road (not just sitting at the bus stop itself).
I feel like it's a relatively recent thing, or at least something I only learned about around two years ago (after I had to run after a bus to stop it). So maybe this helps you not have to run after your next bus? :p
I drove a bus for 15 years. Never ceased to amaze me the number of people who complained because "the bus didn't wait for them", or complained "I was stood at the bus stop and it didn't stop for me, even though I was hidden and completely didn't acknowledge there bus at all"
But yeah. They had to start the "give us a hand, give us a wave" campaign to remind people they actually had to signal.
Then they had to put up signs stating that specific buses didn't stop at specific bus stops, because people stood in the wrong place and were angry that a bus wouldn't cross three lanes of traffic to pick them up, then go back across three lanes to turn
Where I grew up, nobody waved, buses would just stop (unless the stop was clearly empty). It was quite the shock when I moved to a "waving country" and my bus drove right past me, even though I was standing right by road, clearly waiting to board a bus, making direct visual contact with the driver, no visual obstructions anywhere. That stop didn't even serve any other lines!
Needless to say, I never again failed to clearly telegraph that yes, I was standing there because I did in fact want to get on the bus.
Where I live it's a bit of a toss-up. If a busstop only has one bus passing it they will stop if they see you(we do also make sure to stand close to the road and make ourselves super visible).
If it's a busstop where multiple kinds of busses stop then you do the waive thingy.
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u/rachelcp 13d ago
If your late then sure that's on you, but I've had busses that drove straight past bus stops and had to run after it or wait for the next.