(16 Mar 2014, 3:57 pm)Kuyoyo wrote If you're using that as a 'issue', then it's applied to every bus station in the area with the exception of Hartlepool Interchange (only because it's only used once an hour by one bus service) and Wallsend Bus Station. You can't get more than one bus on stands in Middlesbrough and, as witnessed by the accident on Monday, there's also the issue of the bus station getting blocked if buses end up blocked onto the stands. Same happens at Gateshead, well know for a queue to built up for Stand H as there always seems to be a timing clash with the X9 or X10 a 56 a 57 and the X25. Middlesbrough Bus Station also has the problem that the roundabout at the entrance/exit can cause major problems if the queue to exit.
For 'lay-out', I was more referring to the fact it has two separate parts unlike Eldon Square plus there's very little of the 'saw tooth' bays there (and of what there are of those bays, they have plenty of room to reverse unlike Durham, Eldon Square and Haymarket).
That's exactly what the problem is. Bus stations should be designed with these things in mind, but in my opinion, they haven't been.
Stands A-G at Park Lane probably work a lot better than Stands H-V as there appears to be a lot less issues. Breakdowns/vehicle issues have been known to occur on Stands A-G too mind, but drivers have in the past been able to work around it (I recall when 4920 had problems with changing from reverse to drive, an Arriva bus just decided to cut over the layover bays to get to its usual stand).
Durham, Eldon Square and Haymarket are far too compact. When you compare the sizes of those bus stations compared to the 'better' bus stations you gave as examples, is it any wonder that those are far superior?