How early should you get to the bus stop?
What a timetable time actually means, and how much margin to leave at different kinds of stop.
The short answer is a few minutes. The reason matters more than the number, though, because the right margin changes depending on the stop you are at and whether the bus is being tracked.
A timetable time is a departure time
This is the single most useful thing to know. When a timetable says 14:22 at your stop, that is the time the bus is scheduled to leave — not the time it starts approaching. A bus that pulls in at 14:21 has done nothing wrong by leaving at 14:22.
So arriving at 14:22 is arriving late in practice, even though it feels on time.
Timing points and the stops in between
Not every stop on a route has its own published time. Operators set times at certain stops — often the ones passengers recognise, such as a bus station or a main road junction — and the times at stops in between are worked out from the running time between those points.
The practical effect is this: at a timing point, a bus that is early will usually wait until its published time. At an ordinary stop between timing points, it has no particular reason to wait.
If your stop is a small one partway along a long road, leave a bit more margin than you would at a bus station.
When the bus is tracked, the maths changes
If your stop page shows a live expected time rather than a scheduled one, you have much better information: that time comes from where the bus actually is. You can leave the house on it with far more confidence.
Two things are still worth knowing:
- A live position is a snapshot, and it is a few seconds old by the time it reaches you. It is close to real time, not literally instant.
- An expected time moves in both directions. Traffic clears, and a bus that was five minutes late can make some of it back between stops.
So even with a live time, turning up on the exact minute leaves no room for the estimate tightening.
A reasonable rule of thumb
| Situation | Suggested margin |
|---|---|
| Timing point, live expected time showing | 2–3 minutes |
| Ordinary stop, live expected time showing | 5 minutes |
| Scheduled time only | 5 minutes, more if the service is infrequent |
Frequency should drive your margin more than anything else. Missing a bus that runs every ten minutes costs you ten minutes. Missing one that runs every two hours costs you your morning. Be early in proportion to what missing it would cost.
Check the stop, not just the route
If you do not know the area, check which stop you actually need before setting off. Routes usually have stops on both sides of a road serving opposite directions, and the names can be almost identical. The nearby stops page shows the stops around you along with what is departing from each, which makes it obvious which side you want.
Two checks before you leave
- Look at service updates if you are travelling at a time you cannot afford to get wrong — a diversion may mean your usual stop is not being served.
- Check whether the departure is showing a live expected time or a scheduled one, so you know how much to trust it.
For more on that difference, see what "live" means on a bus timetable.