Bus stop

Some stops may be designated as "timing points", and if the vehicle is ahead of schedule it will wait there to ensure correct synchronization with the timetable.

[1] From the 17th to the 19th century, horse-drawn stage coaches ran regular services between many European towns, starting and stopping at designated coaching inns where the horses could be changed and passengers board or alight, in effect constituting the earliest form of bus stop.

John Greenwood opened the first bus line in Britain in Manchester in 1824, running a fixed route and allowing passengers to board on request along the way without a reservation.

Landmarks such as public houses, rail stations and road junctions became customary stopping points.

George Shillibeer started his London horse Omnibus service in 1829, running between stops at Paddington (at the Yorkshire Stingo pub) and the Bank of England to a designated route and timetable.

[2] Bus stop infrastructure ranges from a simple pole and sign, to a rudimentary shelter, to sophisticated structures.

Bus stop shelters may have a full or partial roof, supported by a two, three or four sided construction.

The construction may feature advertising, from simple posters, to complex illuminated, changeable or animated displays.

The stop may include separate street furniture such as a bench, lighting and a trash receptacle (dustbin).

These may have enclosed areas to allow off-bus fare collection for rapid boarding, and be spaced further apart, like tram stops.

In some countries (e.g. Czechia and Slovakia), there is also a different road sign that is intended to mark the end of the stop and thus indicate its length.

Most bus stops are identified with a metal sign attached to a pole or light standard.

Some stops are plastic strips strapped on to poles and others involve a sign attached to a bus shelter.

Modern passenger information systems and journey planners require a detailed digital representation of stops and stations.

[11] The United Kingdom has collected a complete database of its public transport access points, including bus stops, into the National Public Transport Access Nodes (NaPTAN) database with details of 350,000 nodes and which is available as open Data from data.gov.uk.

Bus stops enhance passenger safety in a number of ways: In countries with hot climates, air-conditioned bus stop shelters are sometimes used, for example in Dubai[14] in United Arab Emirates, Hyderabad[15] in India, Eilat[16] in Israel, Ashgabat in Turkmenistan.

[19] Some jurisdictions have introduced particularised legislative controls to foster safer bus stop design and management.

The safety duties apply to all bus services, both commercial and non-commercial, and to all buses regardless of seating capacity.

Limited capacity may mean buses queue up behind each other at the bus stop, which can cause traffic blockages or delays.

Transit agencies are increasingly looking at consolidation of possibly previously haphazardly placed bus stops as a way to improve service cheaply and easily[citation needed].

Some nursing homes and hospitals have built fake, imitation bus stops for their residents who have dementia.