I had a question. I drive Ridge avenue everyday and sometimes I get stuck behind Septa buses for an extraordinary long time. I notice that almost all the Septa stops have XX's over the pavement to prevent parking. Sometimes the buses will pull into these to pick people up and this allows all the cars behind them to pass. Sometimes though I notice the bus will just stop right in the traffic lane and not allow any cars to pass. Are Septa buses required to pull into these lanes or not? Are some of the drivers just jerks that don't feel like going in and out of the traffic lane? If I have the bus #. Is there a # I can call to report the driver if he is indeed doing something wrong? I don't really understand the rules, but if parking spaces are removed to make room for these buses and drivers are not even using them, Something needs to be done. The driver last night was even pulling into the oncoming traffic lane to prevent ANYONE from going around him. By the time we got to where Ridge becomes 4 lanes, there was a line of cars as far as the eye can see. Some of these drivers just really seem to contribute badly to the traffic problems. Any ideas?

I'm not sure if those X's are marked so that buses can *pull over* into them, or if they're simply there to keep cars out. After all, if the bus pulls up to the stop and the door opens and there's a car right next to the bus, you may not be able even to get off the bus. So the no parking may be just to prevent this situation from occurring.

In defense of bus drivers, I will say that if you give your typical private automobile driver an inch, he'll take a mile - if the bus pulls over in the lane, every leadfoot lined up behind him will try to squeak around him before he can pull back out. Now multiply that by every single block on the entire route.

If you were a bus driver, would you want to put up with that?

The bus spots are for them to pull over and let folks by. Nothing pisses me off more than the bus drivers on wayne avenue headed toward lincoln drive (forget which route#), that never pull over.

Mmhm..But I have never seen a bus spot big enough to let a bus pull over.

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I Rather Talk About HurricanesThen Pregnant Teens

There are plenty. Check the length of these spots. That's what they're made for. Sometimes there aren't many cars parked before the bus lane begins which makes it even easier.

Again, I never seen a spot big enough because, I always see a car PARKED in those spots...It makes me want to go make some stickers....

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I Rather Talk About HurricanesThen Pregnant Teens

'Always' and 'never' scenarios are like the Lochness monster. Stop exaggerating.

I don't think there is any rule saying bus drivers have to pull over when picking people up to let cars by, but it is common courtesy. A lot of people, including bus drivers, don't have it these days.

I would tend to agree; many, if not most, spots are not large enough for a bus to pull into completely unless they were in fact parallel parking into the spot(which we can all agree would be ridiculous).
While it would be nice if the bus drivers could pull out of traffic at every stop, ultimately it is just not possible on most city streets. Besides, the things dont run on time as it is, I couldnt imagine how it would be if they had to wait to merge into traffic on every block...

I hate to break it to you all, but a bus *should* have priority over private vehicles on the street - buses carry some 20-40 people each; most cars are carrying at most 4, often fewer. The interests of the many outweigh the interests of the few.