We're not using bus-stops efficiently, making delays, congestion & pollution worse...

It seems to me that we aren't using bus stops efficiently. The photos show examples of buses using the rear half of stops in both Glasgow & Edinburgh. Let's go through this step by step -

• The stops are planned by the local authority and then painted on the road. 
• A route number flag needs to be displayed on a pole and/or shelter to inform us. 
• These flags are very often NOT positioned at the front of the painted space.
• The passengers tend to queue around the flag with information.
• The drivers tend to stop at the flag/passengers.

All of this results in only half the stop being used and unnecessary tailbacks of buses waiting to use the stop - for health and safety reasons drivers can't let passengers on or off unless the front of the vehicle is within the designated stop area.

So let's move the flags to the front of the bus stops and encourage drivers to pull as far forward as they can each time. By doing this we'll reduce congestion & pollution and speed up journey times.

If you spot further evidence of this phenomenon please let me know!