The last time I got off a bus on my way home, two other buses arrived seconds later, all from my route. Now normally, seeing many buses on your favorite route is good news. But not here, since I had waited twenty minutes for my bus when they are supposed to arrive every 8-12 minutes. What a $!£$% nightmare!
It's raised a big question in my mind. Why do buses slipstream? I.e. why do buses follow each other closely, one behind the other, sometimes even leapfrogging, like the lead cyclists in the Tour de France? Do buses like to herd, and will they do so whenever possible?
I've come up with some possible reasons, but I have no actual evidence, and no scientific analysis:
- The buses leave their depots with almost no consideration for the schedules they are supposed to keep. Since the drivers don't check with each other about departure times, the buses arrive randomly
- More plausibly, the lead bus gets slowed down along the way. Now at every stop there are more passengers, slowing it down even further. This leaves the second bus is going faster than the lead bus. 1. Because it is not running into the initial delay. 2. As it gets closer and closer, there are fewer and fewer passengers to pick up. The second bus travels much faster than the lead bus, until it catches it.
Does anyone know how to name this painful transportation illness?
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