Queuing dispute clogs Derby bus station
Passengers at Derby's new bus station are being given instructions on how to queue correctly in a bid to tackle congestion problems on the concourse.
Managers found users of the station were blocking walkways rather than waiting in designated areas.
Complaints about overcrowding have led the city council to debate whether passengers or the station are at fault.
Lanes are being marked on the floor and information messages displayed at the station, which opened in March.
Station manager John Evans said: "People in Derby just don't seem to want to queue in clumps - we are trying to get them to queue in clumps in their little area."
'Not enough space'
He added: "When the queues are quite large they tend to queue out into the concourse and that's a problem for people walking up to the far end of the concourse.
"What we are going to try is experimental marks on the floor and we have put messages on the screens to queue in the waiting areas.
"Once we have had these experiments, if it works, the marks on the concourse floor will become permanent."
However Labour city councillor Martin Repton said there was simply not enough space: "This ought to have been anticipated in terms of the design and layout.
"We have this situation now where... we are being compared to Leeds, where we are told by officials they queue in an orderly way and we are disorderly queuers.
"I just find the whole thing bizarre."
Conservative councillor Chris Poulter, who is cabinet member for neighbourhoods, said the council was working on a solution.
"We tried some things already, like signs in the bays and staff trying to encourage the public to form queues in a different way but that has not worked," he added.