[silvester23]

At the very least, I would assume most bus time tables are written to reflect the worst case scenario regarding traffic lights. That alone should make the actual average waiting time lower than the theoretical one.

[rocqua]

Where I live, buses have a few points where they 'synchronize'. That means they wait there long enough to be exactly on schedule. This to prevent people missing a bus that goes every hour because it was 5 minutes early.

[Reason077]

In London, sometimes a bus will be held at a stop for a minute or three by dispatchers to “regulate the service”.

It's annoying when you’re on that bus, but it makes sense to try and avoid services bunching together.

(And occasionally when they do end up bunched together, the overcrowded bus in front will wait briefly so the empty bus behind it can pass)

[vidanay]

The "El" (Elevated) trains in Chicago will do the same thing. Sometimes you simply stop between stations. Sometimes, it is only 25 ft before a station and you can see your goal in sight.

[gpvos]

Why would they stop for regulation (as opposed to the track in front being occupied, which is obviously a good reason to stop at any place) at anything else but a station?

[vidanay]

My guess would be some sort of naive algorithm that doesn't account for such proximity.

[michaelt]

Quite a few busses in London have timetables like https://imgur.com/a/XlSx68f saying "7am-11pm: About every 11-13 minutes"

(Obviously they don't tend to do that for hourly busses)

[seattle_spring]

You definitely don't live in Seattle. Hell will freeze over before busses here are on time, even for a single stop.