Why Do Buses Bunch?
Would it help to have the trailing bus pass the leading bus when they bunch up?<p>My reasoning:<p>(1) As the article said, full buses move slower because more passengers means more boarding/unboarding time at stops.<p>(2) The lead bus is the fuller, slower one. Slower bus in front means buses get closer together.<p>(3) If one bus passes the other, then you have the faster bus in front and the slower one behind. They should then get further apart.<p>At least they should for a time. The now-leading bus is going to scoop up a lot of passengers at the next several stops and the now-trailing bus won't, so the leading bus will eventually slow down. So it's not perfectly self-balancing or anything, but maybe it would get some distance between them. More distance than not doing it.