The issue are not the drivers.<p>I’ll report what I observed in 2 years of 3 to 4 times of using the bus a day in Germany.<p>Every time a bus was late, or tried to break the sound barrier™ in the hope of reducing some of the delay, was due to one of the following issues:<p>(a) A tourist with texan accent trying to get onto the bus, discussing with the bus driver if he can pay with credit card or in dollar (no), then asking the bus driver to wait while he’s going to get money from the nearest ATM (happens at about 5% of stops in the downtown areas where the tourists are)<p>(b) Rush hour traffic, 200 people squeezing into a single bus, and another few hundred waiting at the bus stop – busses coming every one or two minutes, and it takes quite some time until people stop trying to get into the bus, and leave enough space for the doors to close<p>(c) some kids with invalid tickets trying to cheat and getting caught<p>These issues can’t be fixed by automated busses, or trains.<p>Only by less tight schedules, and more busses and trains.