Large-scale conversion of buses to one-man-operation is currently being undertaken by many operators. This report considers in detail the stop-time characteristics of a variety of different bus types, both one-and two-man-operated, and tries to identify some promising one-man-operated systems. Analysis shows that on an urban route with an average of 3 people boarding and 3 people alighting at each stop, the average stop-time of a traditional two-man-operated bus with an open-rear-platform would be about 8 seconds, whereas on the same route the average stop-times of one-man-operated buses would be from 11 to 20 seconds or more. For some bus types, a significant proportion of stop-time is taken up by door operation. The importance of finding one-man systems with low average stop-times is underlined by cost-benefit analysis. The total saving to the community, arising from reduction in delays to bus passengers, reduced congestion, and reduced costs to the bus company, resulting from a reduction in average stop-times of 1 second, is estimated, using 1968 data, to be £0.5M per annum in central London alone.
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