"First Bus fined for late buses in Bristol and Somerset" BBC News

[whole diary]

[Brucey]

First Bus, the largest bus operator in Bristol and Somerset, has been fined ^40,000 as a penalty for the late running of its buses.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-12249432

I find this bit particularly amusing as I'm pretty sure the traffic is similar every day so more dwell time could be included in the timetable

During the inquiry by the Department for Transport, First Bristol said the commissioner's target of having 95% of services on time was "simply not achievable" given Bristol's traffic.

[JaminBob]

You have to have some sympathy for all bus operators in Bristol. It is not a reliable road network, its so fragile a closed lane near temple meads or one of the bridges can cause chaos.

My very humble opinion is that on busy routes we should move away for timetables towards a 'about every 10 minutes', then if the traffic is good buses can run faster. This would need to be backed up with very good real time info, mobile apps, internet and internet TV^▸ (Thames Valley), as well as at stop information.

Would take years, but i can't see how any operator can manage 95% without huge numbers of buses and tons and tons of slack in Bristol.

What do i know though 

[Steve44]

Couldn't agree more. I've always said, to me, Bristol is the London of the west. And timetables in london are largely 'every 7-9 minutes' or what have you.