[z1mm32m4n]

Ah this is an interesting idea. Passengers already have to request when they want to get off. I'm assuming you mean if no one wants to get off, a bunched up bus skips a stop because a bus behind it says "I'm behind you, I'll take this stop."

That would mostly work, but the problem in Pittsburgh at least is the bus bunching happens between related but not quite identical routes. For example, the 61A, 61B, 61C, and 61D all run down Forbes Ave, and frequently get bunched there. But then later in their routes, they fork: two go one direction, and two go the other direction. For many passengers, it doesn't matter which one they take. But for other passengers, it has to be a 61A etc.

[fedorareis]

Technically it isn’t bunching if it is for different routes. The standard industry definition for bunching as I understand it is when multiple buses for the same route are bunched up.

As is hinted at by the paper, bunching is generally caused by factors such as traffic which makes it hard to actually eliminate. Transit agencies have tried various solutions to the problem and it is very much a work in progress. One thing I have noticed is that transit agencies tend to have sub-optimal data for their service so they tend to be slow at fixing scheduling related issues.

[z1mm32m4n]

Ah, maybe that’s the formal definition. But it’s still frustrating to be at a bus waiting for a late bus and then see a 61A, B, and C all in a line, knowing that any of them will get you to dinner :P