> If it happens on more than a few % of journeys, the public transport authority should be putting on more buses.
That's unrealistic, because there are such huge peaks in traffic. You'd need a large number of extra bus drivers only from 7:30 to 8:30 and from 17:00 to 18:00 each day.
"such a job" would not be made available as bus drivers are typically unionized employees and that is one reason part-time bus driver positions do not exist
I take the bus and I'm neither poor, nor a particularly good environmentalist. They're convenient and cheap and I sorta prefer it to putting my life in the hands of a sleep deprived wage slave. Uber rides feel _consistently unsafe_ to the point I don't even consider it an option anymore.
IME most of the resistance people have to taking the bus is classism. They don't want to share space with "those people".
Presumably then, in your area, buses are superior.
This is exactly what I am talking about. They are not everywhere, and they should be.
I prefer buses too when they actually work.
I tend to take public transport a lot more off peak. At peak time I vastly prefer cycling or driving depending on the weather because I find being crammed next to other people disgusting (a failure mode unique to public transport).
It’s not about class at all. It’s that people don’t want to share space every day for an hour each way with loud people, smelly people, crazy people, violent people, etc. And if they do, they sure as hell don’t want to do so standing and packed up against them. Not all cities and routes have these problems, but many do.
Nobody objects to having to share space with a broke working class single mother taking the bus to go clean hotels downtown.
Aside from that, the weather can be a pain in the ass (rain, snow, wind, scorching heat), transferring buses/trains is a hassle, you cannot travel on your own scheduling terms, you can’t swing by the grocery store or run some errand on the way home, travel time is generally much longer unless you happen to live/work right beside an express stop that does not require a transfer, and the list goes on.
Or... cities see self-driving cars, draw the correct conclusion that they can put some smaller, cheaper and more efficient self-driving buses and blanket ban cars in places where there are too much of them. You either walk or take the bus.
Ok, but check this out: self-driving buses! It's easier to make a self-driving vehicle that follows a fixed route. Buy enough buses to cover the peak demand, then send most of them back to garage during non-peak times.
It's solvable, especially since it's the government that is responsible for public transportation. For example, you can arrange another job for the non-needed hours. For example - a taxi driver.
That's unrealistic, because there are such huge peaks in traffic. You'd need a large number of extra bus drivers only from 7:30 to 8:30 and from 17:00 to 18:00 each day.
Who would want such a job?