Bus stops on the "wrong" side of the road

[47550]

So, a couple of weeks ago I was waiting for a bus in a rural village on a narrow road. I was stood at the bus stop but the bus drove past me going in the opposite direction to the one I was expecting.

Is this my fault for standing in the wrong place, or should the bus driver have stopped ?

The bus stop had details of the service (and direction) on it, so I assumed the bus would stop there.
The bus stop was also on the side of the road you would normally travel if you were in a car to my destination.
There was no pavement (or bus stop) on the other side of the road.
I question whether it would have been safe to stand on the other side of the road as there was no pavement.

Turns out the bus route was a circuitous one - hence it came from the opposite direction to the one I was expecting.
Is it the county councils fault for not making it clear on the signs on the bus stop ?

 

[LowLevel]

Back in the day when organisations were interested in doing such things properly, the stop would have had something along the lines of "AND OPPOSITE" on the flag. Seems a bit rubbish!

 

[Ken H]

Back in the day when organisations were interested in doing such things properly, the stop would have had something along the lines of "AND OPPOSITE" on the flag. Seems a bit rubbish!

Bus stops like that are quite common still. Maybe the OP needs to complain to his council so they can do nothing.

 

[47550]

My thoughts exactly !

 

[The exile]

So, a couple of weeks ago I was waiting for a bus in a rural village on a narrow road. I was stood at the bus stop but the bus drove past me going in the opposite direction to the one I was expecting.

Is this my fault for standing in the wrong place, or should the bus driver have stopped ?

The bus stop had details of the service (and direction) on it, so I assumed the bus would stop there.
The bus stop was also on the side of the road you would normally travel if you were in a car to my destination.
There was no pavement (or bus stop) on the other side of the road.
I question whether it would have been safe to stand on the other side of the road as there was no pavement.

Turns out the bus route was a circuitous one - hence it came from the opposite direction to the one I was expecting.
Is it the county councils fault for not making it clear on the signs on the bus stop ?

Maybe the bus stop for the other direction was elsewhere and you just didn’t see it. Bus stops aren’t always opposite each other!

 

[47550]

True, but I don't think so. The bus stop I was at had the timetable info for the direction I was travelling on it, so...

 

[JKP]

I had this problem a couple of years ago where the bus stops were marked on both sides of the road but the bus came from the opposite direction to that expected. Fortunately I saw the bus coming and signalled to the driver to stop, which he did. When I queried the direction he was travelling through the village, he told me it didn’t matter as the bus was on a loop.

I suspect that 47550 was the victim of a driver not being properly route trained or alternatively the driver forgot and just took the first turning into the village rather than the correct turning.

 

[rcro]

Broad Green in Worcestershire was served in only one direction for very many years, but the bus shelter was on the other side of the road. Unfortunately the Hereford to Worcester service has since declined to nothing so no idea if there is still a bus service at all, or if the current one per day service college bus now goes both ways.

Here it is on google: https://maps.app.goo.gl/W6jcjAmu4HoTJeHW9?g_st=ic
Flag says “other side of road to Worcester only”
Bonus points for being a stop that First forgot to turn pink and blue, and for having a dog waiting for the bus.

 

[PeterC]

We have one stop locally where the timetable is for the opposite stop. It's also the only stop in the village with an up to date timetable.

 

[Snow1964]

We have those in Wiltshire, here is a typical example (Bulkington), where bus flag at top says both sides of road. No flag on one side.

Google Maps

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www.google.co.uk

There are variations, illustrated is Neston, near Corsham, the bus shelter shown now has shelves and is a free book swap, buses still serve the road, but only in opposite direction, flag can be seen in distance, but it is part of a one way loop (Corsham route 10), note the stop has no shelter, no seat, and just a grass verge to wait at, and yes wheelchairs would be expected to use the grass verges

Google Maps

Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps.

www.google.co.uk

Unlike cities, have to hunt out the bus stops, because they don't bother to paint bus stop boxes on the road, or even have parking restrictions in front of the stops.

 

[NorthernSpirit]

In West Yorkshire, the stop flags use to have a blue strip with the words "Both Directions" on it until 2004 when they changed to the current design.

Here's one on Freakfield Lane, Hartshead that serves both directions and even states "Both sides of the road", the seriously narrow pavement is located on one side of the road and there are no road markings either. https://goo.gl/maps/QiQprbau2dUbnmpr6

The next stop towards Brighouse is also a timing point in that direction, its shown in timetables as "Clifton, Kirklees Estate" However the stops actual name is Clifton Blake Law Lane which is named after a house called Blake Law which was destroyed when the M62 was ploughed through it. The timing points name comes from the land (accessed by the black gate on the left of the image) that the Jacobean Kirklees Hall is built on. In a timing point sense, the flag is located on the "wrong side".
https://goo.gl/maps/xJmA8kW8BU2fRg9p7